Winged Fire
by Louisa4533
Summary: Sequel to Clashing Tides. A new half-blood decides to shake things up in camp, of course. Arriving in a weird way, she has an even stranger secret. Read and find out what it is! Dedicated to the firemen in Colorado helping with the fires there, and anyone who has lost a loved one in a fire. Narrated by Alexis, Louisa, and the new half-blood. Complete!
1. Tesla

**Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or KC.**

Chapter 1

Alexis

Wait a Second

My second quest really started when I was sitting on Fireworks Beach the day summer camp started again, in the middle of the night. I never even heard her come up behind me, no footsteps, no hard breathing, no clash of metal on claw, or dying wail of the monster she had slaughtered 30 seconds before she just causally remarked, "Beautiful night isn't it?"

Anyway, she just about scared me into oblivion, remarking so causally about the night, when I was breaking the rules by sitting out here past curfew.

I whirled around. Behind me, also watching the sea wash in and out of the shore, was a petite girl with tan skin, jaw-length straight dark reddish-brown hair, and sunglasses with some sort of wire going up to her ear. I had never seen her before, and it struck me odd that she'd be wearing sunglasses at night. She looked young, maybe about nine or ten.

"Who-Who are you?" She was also wearing jeans and a tight-fitting dark red tank top, with some strange shoes that seemed to fit her tiny feet perfectly.

"I am Tesla." she said with an accent of someone who doesn't talk much. I started to worry that perhaps she was either a goddess or a monster or a spy. None of them were good, and I stood up uneasily and towered over her, and what she said next gave me chills down my back. "I am no threat to you or your camp. I am in need for shelter. Please let me in."

So, I took her to Chiron. I wasn't quite sure what to do with her, and yes, I did know that admitting that I was out after curfew would result in punishment, but hopefully no one would think about where I found her.

He was in his sleeping cap, with bags under his eyes, that disappeared almost instantly when he saw Tesla. "Who is this?" he asked.

"Chiron, this is Tesla. She came asking for assistance and I wasn't sure what to do with her so..."

"Hmm. Ok, both of you come in." he said, ushering us to the kitchen in the back of the house. "Hot chocolate, bread, anything?"

I politely declined, and she also did so too.

"What is it that you need?"

"All I need is permission to stay on your grounds for the night."

His eyes immediately turned wary, and slightly stiffened.

"As I told her, I will not harm you or your camp." Tesla said, making me slightly nervous. Could she read minds? _We've got every other power_, I thought, thinking of Louisa.

Now Chiron seemed to read _her_ mind. "You know what this camp is, don't you?"

She nodded. A tiny frown appeared between both his and my eyebrows.

A "Why?" issued from my mouth.

"It seems that a more accurate question is _how_, but to relay your fears, I am a half-blood also." she said.

"How do you know?"

"The animals. Instinct." was the simple reply.

"The _animals_?" came from my mouth, as soon as Chiron simply said, "You may stay. Although it might be easier to see without the sunglasses."

"It doesn't make a difference." she said.

Another "Why?" passed through my lips.

She gave an eerily soft chuckle, that both calmed and worsened my fears about her. "I'm blind."

* * *

The morning after Tesla scared me out of my skin, I woke to the sound of birds singing, monsters growling, and kids screaming. What at, I had no clue. It sounded like a girl. But just one making that awful racket? I didn't know what to think, so I got up and looked for the source.

As it was, the screamer was Rhonda, one of Hermes' kids, and screaming that there was a lizard in her bed, and a strange girl was looking at her. I ran in there to see absolute chaos. Rhonda pulling at her bed sheets and hair, Tesla looking down at her with an amused and outraged expression on her face while she stroked something small, brown, fuzzy, and quivering. A scared squirrel? Chattering chipmunk? Frightened fox? I gave up guessing, and surveyed the rest of the faces. Most people were checking their sheets for lizards or insects or the like, some were looking at Tesla with confused expressions or at Rhonda, wincing at her screams.

"Quiet!" I yelled. When Rhonda did not stop screaming, I banged my fist on the nearest table as hard as I could. The jelly bean bowl and knife on the table rattled loudly. The bang startled Rhonda into silence.

"Thank you. You had a lizard in your bed? Is that it?" As soon as I finished my last word, a small, green lizard crawled out of Rhonda's sheets, up the pole, and up to Tesla's shoulders, setting off another bout of screaming.

Instead of hurting my fist again on a rather solid table or wasted my breath, I clapped a hand over Rhonda's mouth. "At this rate you won't _have_ a voice." I muttered. "Tesla, if there are any other animals that you would care to claim, please do it now." Tesla waved at the far corner of the room and made a sort of trill. Two crickets and a frog hopped over and onto Tesla's lap, head, or shoulders. I suddenly realized that she had a small green snake coiled around her wrist, something I thought was bracelets. Yikes. I realized the small brown animal was a bunny in the crook of her arm.

Tesla hopped down perfectly from the top bunk without using the ladder. The cricket on her lap hopped to her shoulder where the other cricket sat. Tesla still had her sunglasses on.

"Everyone, this is Tesla. She stumbled upon me last night, and Chiron took her here. I know most kids arrive by day, and this is a rather strange arrival, but she just like any of us. Please make her feel welcome.

Conner and Travis came forward. "Sorry about-" Conner started.

"-the rough arrival morning. He's Conner-" Travis said.

"-and he's Travis." Conner said. The brothers were so alike, they finished each others' sentences a lot. "We're the Hermes counselors. You'll soon have your own cabin to call home. This is just temporary-"

"-until some god claims you. Then you move to his-"

"-or her-"

"-cabin. Everyone is _normally _well-behaved." a pointed glare at Rhonda.

"You won't be by yourself, unless you're Hades' kid or-" Travis elbowed Conner in the ribs, hard. "Ow! What was-uh..." Conner trailed off, for once at a loss for words. He looked at me with guilt in his eyes. I narrowed mine in puzzlement. Travis picked up where Conner first left off.

"-you're the daughter of some unknown god. So the short of it is pretty much hi, you won't be staying long in this cabin, you'll move to another cabin with lots of other friends, and welcome to Camp Half-Blood!"

Tesla gave him a tight smile. "Thank you." she held out her hand. "May I have my wallet back please?" The astonished look on Travis's face was more than I could bear to keep the laughter inside. Without waiting for an answer, Tesla stuck her hand inside his front shirt pocket and pulled out her wallet. I laughed harder.

* * *

Later on, after I ran into Percy, through Louisa, and literally into Chiron, and explained to all of them what had happened, I was (finally) alone in the Poseidon cabin, when Tesla walked in. I groaned softly to myself. _When will I ever be able to read my new book?_

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Fine, I'm fine. Just tired." I replied. _Good grief, she has sharp hearing._

_You think? If she can hear Travis sneak into her pocket and out again, yeah, she has sharp hearing. If she can hear me at the lake swimming while she is in the woods, yeah, she has sharp hearing. _Percy's voice entered. _As for the book..._

_How did you know about Travis?_

_I'm always listening. _he said almost sweetly.

_Get out of my head, you worthless sea monster!_

_Sea monster yourself! _was the rather lame retort to me, but he did break contact.

I had to suppress a laugh. Tesla had two crickets on either side of her head, so it looked as if she had really long, pointed ears. In fact, she did have pointed ears, but they were small, which seated two crickets, one for each ear. I gave her an amused smile. Then I remembered that she couldn't see me. "Your crickets make your pointed ears look extended." I said. She smiled shyly back. "Do you need something?"

"No, but you seemed a little stressed in the Hermes cabin."

"How would you know that if you couldn't see me?" Oops. Maybe shouldn't have said that. "Sorry. Didn't mean it like that."

She laughed, a nice sound, like a refreshing breeze on a hot day. "Its okay. Its nice to find someone who doesn't tie themselves in knots trying not to mention my blindness to my face. I could tell by your voice."

"Soooo, do you plan to do something about it?" I asked, plainly puzzled. I didn't think anyone could snap their fingers and make my stresses go away.

"Perhaps. If you'll allow me to."

"Tooooo?" I drew the word out.

"To take you to the woods. The one that I live in."

"Okay..."

"Come on." she gently led me out of the cabin. "Close your eyes."

I did.

I heard some rustling, a snap, like fabric in a strong wind. I felt myself lifted by strong but surprisingly gentle hands into the air. Either there was a strong wind, or we were going very fast. The hands set me down again. The air was warm with a cool breeze here. I tried walking, and instantly connected with a tree. "Don't worry, you can open now." Tesla's voice said.

I did.

We were now in a forest with a clean, clear stream going through it nearby. A small waterfall about four feet high bubbled, a little north of us. Pine needles and other leaves crunched beneath my feet.

Tesla used to be behind me, and I had to look up before I found her. She was at the top of a very old, wide tree. Knotholes circled the tree. How did Tesla get up there so fast? "Come on, I'll show you where I live."

So I climbed the tree. It was easy, with branches almost like steps. At the top, there was a trap door that Tesla held open. She gestured for me to go. I stepped in, expecting stairs or something, but no, it was a slide. I slipped, fell, and was on my way down. I saw the knotholes flash by. So that was what they were. I prayed that I would land gently. And as suddenly as the darkness descended, it was lifted, as I popped out of the tunnel/slide and landed on a cushioned pillow with a grunt. I rolled out of the way just in time to have Tesla pop out of the tunnel much more gracefully. That was when I turned around in amazement at the room.

It was big, high ceilings everywhere except where we popped out. A pipe up along the wall where I assumed the fire cooker would be. The fireplace had another pipe. A bathtub was right next to the fireplace, already full of water. A small stream ran the length of the kitchen area, made of upraised rock. A bed and wash basin were in the corner, and where we popped out from was the living room, based on the extra chair. But what really caught my attention were the walls.

They were a mix of smooth rock and stained wood. The floor was polished granite, beautifully complimenting the walls, and the walls were completely smooth, grafted together, alike in a totally opposite way, which makes no sense, I know, but that's the only way I can describe it.

The walls were mostly wood, I guess still part of the tree, with rivers of rock woven through the roots. The wood looked like those caves you see where water ran, with swirls and lines and beautiful patterns. I was absolutely astounded.

"Shut your mouth." I shut my mouth with an audible click.

"How? How did you do it? How did you... How were you... How did you know my mouth was hanging open?" It seemed like an insignificant question, but that's all that would come out.

Her amused smile turned into a smirk. "I could hear you breathing through your mouth instead of your nose."

"How were you able to do it?"

"I had some little helpers." she clapped her hands loudly at the fireplace. The back of it half revolved. Bluebirds, robins, chickadees, and even a young bald eagle sailed in, followed by two deer, three wolves, a half-grown bear cub, a stray cat, five beavers, and dozens upon dozens of insects. Almost every kind of insect, except mosquitoes, gnats, and moths.

"Oh. My. Gosh." I swallowed hard. "How did you get all these animals to cooperate together? The wolf and the bird are enemies!" Several sparrows and two wolves looked at the other species. I raised my eyebrows.

"I simply made it clear to them that they were not to eat each other in my presence. Or..."

I didn't ask. I wasn't sure I wanted to know. "So these animals told you that you were a half-blood?"

"Some." was the simple answer. I didn't press. I wasn't sure what she'd do to me. Normally I wouldn't be so quiet about it, but when it came to snakes... Someone who has the hand of the animals could make me very well screech the whole camp awake.

I steered the topic away from animals, while she steered me to one of the seats. "So, who are your parents?" Tesla settled the animals.

I hadn't realized that the lamps provided seating for the birds, squirrels, and insects. The rest of the animals scattered to their niches in the walls that I hadn't noticed before. The cat made itself at home in front of the fire. A bat that I also hadn't noticed before squealed. Tesla tossed a ripe mango in the air. The fruit bat swooped and caught it, then settled down on one of the rafter beams that blended in with the ceiling.

Tesla grinned. "Sorry about that. Girly's little startled at having another person here."

"Girly?"

"My bat." Tesla pointed upward. "She was born a little prematurely, and the mother didn't want another mouth to feed, so I said, 'Wait, give her to me.' She did, and so Girly's grown up here. For lack of a better name, I named her Girly. Batty would have been a little mean, so..." Tesla, I noticed, gestured a lot with her hands. While she did that, something wriggled on her back.

"Uh, Tesla... What's on your back?" Tesla cursed in some other language I didn't know, reached behind her and pulled a monarch butterfly. Tesla whistled, sounding like the wind through trees. The butterfly fluttered, then drooped. I don't know how else to put it. "What did you say?"

"Oh, Slusla here is notorious for getting under my shirt, especially during wintertime. She says that-" More dry whistling. "That I always am cool in summer and hot in winter." She whistled some more. "Oh come on! You can't-" She dropped into that other language again. I got the feeling that the butterfly and Tesla had had this argument a lot.

"Slusla-" the butterfly flapped its wings furiously, making that whistling sound. "No! I already have a thousand butterflies with me-" Dry whistling and more of the strange language. "I've talked to your mother. I've tried. And I can't." Flapping wings. "But nothing! I've tried, and I can't convince her!" Tesla gave me a glance, then dropped into the other language. Then, "I know, I know, I can't stay here forever. I have to figure something out. And I will. But I can't do it right now. Yes, I do know that she's mad. I'm aggravated. So we're even. No! I won't! I don't care if she's Hera herself that ordered me, I'm not going!" The butterfly fluttered under the assault. "I know. I will. 'Bye." The butterfly fluttered up the tunnel that we came into. Tesla sank into one of the chairs, took off her sunglasses, and buried her head in her hands.

"You ok?" I asked tentatively.

"Fine, just fine." She looked up. Or rather, she tilted her head up, since she couldn't see, but I could swear she was looking at me. She didn't look blind at all.

Her eyes were startling, with blue and almost purple streaks among the gray. Right now, they had almost no color in them, besides gray. If she had blond hair, she could almost be a smaller double of Annabeth.

"Right. Like I'm going to believe that." Tesla managed a small smile and got up. She went towards the kitchen area. She was brewing something that looked like crushed bark. She didn't have a coffee maker, but she was doing it by hand. When Tesla was finished, she poured two cups. She gave one to me, and I took it. And almost dropped it, it was so hot.

Tesla drained half her glass and set it on the table. I took a cautious sip of mine. It tasted like hot chocolate, with a hint of cinnamon and something else. Within seconds, I had drained half my glass as well.

Tesla put her glasses back on. "Why?" I asked.

She started. "What?"

"You look really pretty without your glasses. Why put them back on?"

"Some people find it unnerving that every time I blink, my eyes change color."

"_What?"_

She took off her glasses. Her eyes were still a gray color. She blinked, and I gasped aloud. Her eyes had gone from a mellow gray to a bright green. "I 'had too many gifts' as my father said. I should have been this that and the other thing." Tesla said bitterly. I was surprised by the amount of bitterness.

"I was already claimed. When I was eight. _After _everything fell apart. _After_ Hurricane Katrina. _After_ I lost my parents. _After_ I was out there, fending for myself. _After _I found out that the people who raised me were not my parents. _After _I found out that I was supposed to be a Cyclops. _After_ I ran away from law enforcement, orphanages, and monsters, oh my. After all that, he shows up in my fire, says, 'I am your father', gives me a coin, and tells me to use it wisely. The only thing Hephaestus did that was useful that day," Tesla was sobbing now. Her hands clutched at the chair. "was make my fire last longer. Only for that day. I was supposed to be a Cyclops, he said. He had an affair with-" she gulped as she tried to swallow. "With a forest nymph. I was blind. But I was exquisite to my mother and father. But I was so strong, that the moment I was born, monsters came. I was one day old, and a hellhound came after me. I used my gift to get away. My mother didn't survive, and my father blasted all of them to dust. But I was gone. Gone like the wind. It took him eight years to find me, or remember me, I'm not sure."

I was now hugging her tightly. She was sobbing into my shirt so hard, some of the words she said were distorted, so it took me a minute to figure them out. I didn't say anything. Sometimes you just have to let it out. I speak with experience.

"I didn't use my gift again until he came. I ran away from him after he told his story. He told me everything. And I used my gift with you." she said a couple other things, but I couldn't make them out. She had her arms around me tightly. I was now certain she was hysterical.

"Tesla, Tesla. C'mon. Hephaestus isn't here. C'mon. I pulled her toward one of the chairs. She wouldn't let go of me, and there wasn't room for two to sit side by side. I picked her up and sat down with her in my lap. She hugged me tightly, and I stroked her hair until she fell asleep. She made an odd wriggling motion with her shoulder blades. I wouldn't realize what was on her back until much later.

I put her in the hammock and sent a message to Percy to let him know I was fine.


	2. Oh My Gods

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

II

Tesla

Oh My Gods

I woke up in a hammock, wondering why I was here. Then the previous night came rushing back at me. Oh my gods. I told her everything.

I listened, and I could hear her breathing, somewhere towards the floor. A blue jay landed on my shoulder and chirped at me, "Well, are you going to sing with us?"

"How did you get in?" I asked it.

"The fireplace is still open." I recognized the blue jay's voice now. It was Lorui.

"Ok, I'll sing with you. It'll help out waking up my sleeping guest, too.

"_Jeong, da je, jeong, da je,_

_Lote la sa don nes._

_Jeong, da je, jeong, da je,_

_Las san da oi ye!_

_Mon de nerda, mon de nerda,_

_Je en las san daaa._

_Menda, menda, los san de jeang._

_Mon...de...monnnn._

_Mon...de...monnnnnnn."_

As I sang, I prepared some _sillihy _for Alexis and I. I popped two pieces of toast onto my metal plate. The metal plate rested over the fire and warmed the metal. Since metal is a good heat conductor, I used it as a stove, or in this case, a toaster.

Alexis stirred as I sang and as she smelled food.

A few minutes later, we were sitting on the two chairs in the living room. Then Alexis asked me a question that caught me off guard.

"What's special about your sunglasses? I mean, besides covering up your eyes. It has a little wire going up to your ear, and I'm just curious..." she trailed off.

"I made the sunglasses out of a hearing aid, one of those contact units that the police use and a high frequency-five feet minimum motion sensor." I said.

I could almost see Alexis giving me the deer-and-the-headlights look. The next second, "What?"

I kept a smile to myself and explained patiently. "The motion sensor senses what's around me. Everything is in motion, some are just faster than the human eye can see. The higher frequency, the more motion is detected. The com unit translates the signals into computer characters, which is then read by a software and goes into one ear so I always know where I am and what's in front of me. If you ask, it can also give you your exact location of what city you are in and the latitude and longitude. I made it specifically for the blind, and was trying it out on myself before I gave it up for further testing. So far it's only had a few glitches, but I would like it so that there is _no_ glitches by the time it's done."

"Wow. You have to be a daughter of Hephaestus now. No question." Alexis said. I gave her a small smile and took a bite of my toast.

"We had better get going before breakfast is up." I said, finishing my breakfast.

"Question." she said.

"Answer." I replied. She let out a little laugh.

"How do we get out?"

"The fireplace. Girly! Come on, girl!" I answered her question and called to my bat. "The rest of you, out!" I felt a flurry of activity and I unplugged my sunglasses, as it was working over time. "Out!" I said, shooing the rest of them out as Girly landed on my shoulder.

_So, mistress, where are we going?_

_I told you! Don't call me mistress!_

_Ok, mistress. _I sighed in exasperation.

"What?" Alexis said.

"Oh, nothing. Only Girly calling me mistress. _Again_."

"Oh, you'll like my brother then. He has the same problem with Blackjack. Only Blackjack calls him boss instead of mistress."

"Blackjack is a...?" I said.

"Pegasus. A black pegasus." she responded shortly.

We walked through the fireplace and I heard it revolve around as we left. I plugged in my sunglasses again. "Close your eyes, Alexis."

I shrugged my shoulders, and there was another snap, and I picked up Alexis, who was actually pretty light, and we sped back to Camp Half-Blood.

* * *

I landed behind the Poseidon cabin and dropped Alexis off. We exchanged words for about two minutes, and then the horn blew, signaling the start of the day.

I had archery along with the rest of the Hermes cabin, and I asked the counselor how far away it was. He said it was about thirty feet. I took off my glasses and changed the setting from five feet to thirty plus. It gave me that a large, circular piece of wood was standing twenty-nine and a half feet away.

I positioned my bow and inserted an arrow and lifted it. The ear piece did a rapid calculation and suggested I lift it a quarter of an inch higher. I did so, since it was most times correct.

_You're gonna make it, mistress!_

_Girly!_

The counselor blew his whistle, and I let the arrow fly. I heard it stick to the wood, slightly quivering. Well, at least I hit the board. I heard a lot of _thud_s (signaling an arrow hitting the ground) and whistles (arrows going by the targets) and three other _thts! _(arrows hitting the targets).

"Well, how did we do?" I asked. I heard the counselor's footsteps come slowly, checking the other targets as he went by.

When he got to the end, he said, "Four people hit the target. One was you. Towards the edge, yes, but better than most. Better than most." I could feel his eyes skimming over me. "Please shoot another arrow."

My hands were shaking as I loaded another arrow. My arms were strong from swinging from branch to branch for my whole life, and pulling the string back was easy. The earpiece recommended that I aim it three-quarters of an inch to the left. I did so.

I took a deep breath and let the arrow fly.

**I'd very much appreciate it if you'd review!**


	3. Fire Can Be Fun!

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

III

Tesla

Fire Can Be Fun!

My arrow swished through the air and landed with a _thunk_! This time I couldn't tell if I hit the target.

"Did I hit the target?"

"Looks like you could be an Apollo kid. If you can shoot that well and..."

"I have my sunglasses to help me."

I heard several "Huh?"s.

"My sunglasses tell me where to shoot. They can calculate the distance and if I need to pull back a little more or a little less on the string, or if I need to alter my position slightly. Without my sunglasses, I most certainly would have missed. I have good senses, but not that good." I told them.

"Then take them off and shoot." the counselor said. I frowned where his voice came from, but complied.

"Am I in front of the target?" I asked.

"Yeah." several people said.

I notched an arrow and took aim. I let go. I heard it whistle past my ear, go through the air and land on the target with a loud _thunk_.

"Well, I think that settles it. She's a daughter of Apol-" I smelled burning wood, and cut him off.

"Fire!" I yelled. "From there!"

The counselor took charge. "Get those exploding arrows away from the fire! Conner, go find Percy, Louisa, Alexis, Leo, somebody to help put out the fire! The rest of you, help move the rest of the arrows and targets away from the fire!"

I snatched my sunglasses from the ground before they got trampled. I plugged them in and was overloaded with feedback. "Fire twenty feet to your left. People picking up round painted pieces of wood and moving them." All that good stuff.

Birds flew out of trees. One screeched, "My eggs!"

"Camera, look for a bird's nest."

"Bird's nest, thirty feet up, thirty feet in fire."

"Monitor my progress to the bird nest."

Wait.

"Girly!"

_Yeah, mistress?_

_You see the bird nest up there?_

_Yeah mistress._

_Guide me to it._

I ranged out with my senses and knew there was a branch five feet above my head. I crouched, and jumped upward with all my might. I grabbed the branch with both hands and swung myself upward.

I jumped from branch to branch, swinging occasionally.

_Come on, mistress. _

"Ten feet to your right." the camera said.

I ranged out again and knew there was no way I could jump across a 7 foot chasm. I was thirty feet up, for Zeus' sake!

I ranged up, and there was a branch midway between the two branches.

"Tesla! Get back down here!" the counselor said. _They _just_ noticed I wasn't there? A little late, perhaps?_

I pushed off the branch I was on and reached upward with both hands. My hands smacked against the branch and I swung back, then forward more forcefully, and let go.

_Your in the tree, mistress. Just reach up and grab the nest._

_How am I going to get down again?_

_I'll help ya out, mistress. Haven't I always?_

I reached up and felt a lot of twigs and moss. I carefully plucked it from its place and cradled it against my chest.

_Jump three feet out._

_Now jump four feet out._

_Store the nest in your pocket, because you'll have to swing._

I carefully placed the nest in the large pocket of my hoodie.

_You're gonna jump five feet and reach upwards, then go another two feet and drop three._

_Got it._

I jumped five feet, and my hands curled around the tree branch and I slowed myself down to do only two feet, and I dropped three feet.

_Now ya can swing to the ground usin' the ivy. Gonna to have to drop three feet at the lowest point, though._

I felt for the ivy and grabbed it, hooking my legs around it and pushing off. I swung down, down, down, and I sensed I was at the lowest point, and dropped. I landed in a shallow crouch.

_Thanks, Girly._

_No problem._

I whistled for the mother. "I have your nest!"

The bird landed on my shoulder. "Thank you." she chirped.

I pulled out the nest and she hurried into it. I gently set the nest on the opposite side of the clearing, where it wasn't burning.

"Tesla! That was either the bravest thing I ever saw or the stupidest!" the counselor ranted.

"I do it all the time!" I protested. "Just because I'm blind doesn't mean that I'm an invalid! Doesn't mean that I'm going to sit back and wish I could do this and that and the other thing like so many! No! I don't let my blindness handicap me! So don't underestimate me again!" I ranted right back at him. I stormed off into the forest. "Come on, Girly!" My bat flew after me.

I felt the cabin's stares on me as I left. I heard one "Ooo, burnnnnnnn." from one of the others. I thought that was quite appropriate.

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	4. Fire On a lot of different levels!

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

**Some of you were like, "Where's Louisa?" Well, here she is!**

**By the way, I can tell already that there is going to be a lot of fire and water in these chapters...**

IV

Louisa

Fire!

Conner found me and Leo first, panting, and distorting his words. "Fire-over by-archery range. Came-to get-someone- to control the fire-or douse it."

As soon as I understood the gist of it, I grabbed Leo by the arm, Conner by his arm and turned to air and whisked away to the archery range. When we landed, everyone seemed a bit stunned, and not because of me, Leo, and Conner appearing in front of them.

Leo seemed to confine the fire to where it was now and not spread any farther, and I made the creek erupt and douse the flames. I counted heads of the Hermes cabin. "Ok, hold up. Where's the newbie?" Along with the entire camp, I had heard of the newbie, Tesla, who showed up on the beach.

The head counselor of the Apollo cabin pointed to the woods behind them. I frowned. "What happened?"

"She rescued a bird's nest from the flames. I have no idea how she did it without being burned or falling thirty feet from a tree. She leaped straight up, and swung herself onto that branch that's right above your head, according to Travis. Then she proceeded to jump from branch to branch and swinging like a monkey. She was in a burning tree when she jumped the exact amount she needed to get to the ground. Then after she got within ten feet of the ground, she grabbed a piece of ivy and swung to the ground. I shouted at her, and she retaliated and stormed off. I'd swear her ears were smoking."

I looked at Leo, who for once was pretty quiet. "Another fire user?" I asked him.

"Maybe. I don't know. The hair on her ears may have been singed and were smoking." he said. No cracks about smoking ears? This was seriously weird. "And besides, fire users are pretty rare, so I don't think we'll have to worry about another hyperactive me for awhile." I cracked a smile. This was more like Leo. But what was holding him back?

"Ok." I said. "Who wants to go with me to find her?" Nobody raised their hands. I huffed. "Ok, fine. I'll look for her by myself."

I set off into the forest, keeping a sharp eye on movement and listening for any signs of life. A blind person couldn't exactly sneak around without tripping over something, right? Well, since she climbed trees perfectly, why not? I looked upward.

I could just barely see movement, but their it was. It looked like an olive green tank top with khaki pants and some sturdy boots. She was about nine or ten, it looked like. She had very tan skin that she was either born with or spent a lot of time in the sun. She had reddish-dark brown hair. It wasn't pure red, but more like a golden brown that shimmered in the sun, as if her hair had been injected with fire. She had some sunglasses on her face and a-was that a bat?-on her shoulder.

"I'm assuming you're Tesla." I called up. No answer. "Do you want me to come up there?" No answer. "I'm going to take that as a yes." Still no answer.

I was a little rusty with tree climbing, but I did a lot of that after Hurricane Katrina. I'd also put on some muscle since coming to camp, and I didn't want to scare her into next week with my appearing in front of her. I didn't want to scare her bat off either. I didn't think that would get me any points with her.

I looked for the lowest branch. It was just out of my reach, so I jumped, caught it, and pulled myself up. I went up another two branches and then I boosted myself up another branch so that I was now almost level with her. "Why did you come after me?" Tesla said. She had an accent that was hard to place. I believe it was Greek. _Modern_ Greek.

"Oh, well, I don't know, only because you're a camper and we stick together. You didn't think we'd just leave you out here, did you?" I said.

"I can handle myself." she said.

"You do know that you were in a burning tree when you got that bird nest?"

"Yes."

"Why did you do it?" I asked.

"The mother was crying for her eggs."

"Why didn't you answer me when I was calling up to you?"

"You wouldn't be able to hear me." she said.

"Oh, don't count me out so soon. Don't underestimate people until you know them. That bugs you, doesn't it?"

She narrowed her eyes. "How would you know?"

"You haven't seen me in action. I haven't seen you in action. So we're even."

"What can you do?"

"You can share thoughts with your bat, can't you?"

"Yeah."

"Ok then." I turned to wind. "I am still here, but I'm not invisible."

"You're wind." she sounded a little strangled. _Happens every time._

I reverted back to solid form. "Why didn't you turn to wind and get on my branch the easy way?"

"I didn't think I'd earn points by scaring your bat off." I said dryly. She laughed. "So what can you do?" I asked. She didn't look like much, but then again, neither did Carter or Sadie or me or Zia. Currently, Drew was at the Brooklyn House with Percy (I want to see who comes back alive; I'm betting on Percy), and Carter and Zia were here. It was early, and we would switch more if it worked, and if it didn't, we'd un-switch our people and settle for no kidnapping. I'm hoping that it'll work. Sorry. ADHD.

"I can build." she said simply. "I made these." she tapped her glasses.

"They help you see?"

"They are my eyes for me. They can also do math and tell me what I'm reading, so I don't have to go through the hassle of getting Brail books."

"That's useful. Why haven't you published them?" I commented.

"I would like to make sure they work before I make another set and wear them and send these off to the invention site or what-have-you." she said, sounding exasperated.

"Why don't you come on down?" I sprang the question on her.

She blushed. "I managed to get myself trapped. I can lift myself up, but the sudden weight on one of these thin branches could snap it, and then I'll fall."

_Already, huh? _"I can get you down easily. I would recommend that your bat get off you." I said.

The bat got off, and then she said, "Why does Girly need to get off?"

"Because of this!" I grabbed her arm, dove off of the tree branch, and turned to air. Tesla screamed. "A little late! You're fine. If you're going to be hanging around me, you're going to have to get used to it."

"What did you _do_?" she yelled.

"Chill! As long as you're touching me, you're fine."

"And if I let go?"

"Then you'll fall to your death." I said bluntly.

"Get me down." she said.

"Ok." I soared to the ground and turned to air. Tesla staggered to solid form next to me, and yanked her hand away from me. For a second, I felt a wave of power from her. _Stronger than she appears to be. Another mixed heritage. Have a lot of those at this camp._

"What did you do?" Tesla asked, calmer than before.

"Oh, I just turned you to air, along with myself. As long as I'm touching you, I can channel my power through you, unless you're my cousin or sibling. Then I don't have to touch you."

Tesla turned green and I thought she was going to throw up, but she just got mad, and I was too shocked by her change of skin color to defend myself.

"You used your power on me with out my permission! Children of Hephaestus are afraid of heights! Don't you know that!"

"Hey, now, whoa!" I said. "I wasn't the one asking for help because she got herself stuck in a tree like a blockheaded cat! You wanted help. I gave it to you! So _chill out_! Jeez!"

Then she showed her true potential as a fire user, because she got so mad at what I was saying, and I don't even know why, that fire burst from her back and rained out. She grabbed one of the pieces of fire and hurled it at me. I flicked my hand, and the oxygen left it, rendering the flame to a cinder. "You want to play with fire? So be it." I said leisurely.

**Greatly appreciate it if you'd review!**


	5. PLEASE READ IMPORTANT!

_This is extremely serious. To whoever is reading this, if you are simple readers or writers, PLEASE repost this petition if possible. Any help is appreciated. _

_To any moderators, as you can see by my story, it has nothing to do with M or MA rated content, yet I do enjoy the mature stories and from my experience on this amazing website I have seen great talent. _

_**My suggestion to any moderator/administrator reading this**__ : An age block. I'm sure most of you know that on YouTube, if you are younger than 18, certain videos are inaccessible. This website is the pride and joy of a very high percentage of those who enjoy reading any form of fanfiction. Any story that is M or MA(even though this site doesn't allow that rate but it should), only those who, when signing in, are 18 or above are allowed to read it. This should be a bit of a difficult job and even more so difficult when considering the hundreds of thousands of fics and users you have to apply this. Of course, M stories should not be accessible to non-users, so anonymous readers are forbidden from seeing them._

_I know my voice will not be heard, but if by some stroke of luck, people do agree with my idea, I implore you to think on my plan. To me and my friends who share the love of fanfics, seeing such a top-quality website removing stories is a great great shame. _

_To anyone who thinks this idea might be worthwhile, please pass it on, sign the petition and let us keep being the no.1 site for fanfiction!_

_~Yours truly, Louisa4533~~~ _

The administrators are as of June 4th going to be taking down Fics that have lemons or have extreme violence. Now I don't know about you but I think that's stupid. There are many wonderful fics that only have one or two lemons in them yet the plot itself is awesome! You can't just take down a 100,000+ word fic just because it has a lemon in a chapter that is only 1000 words long. Now I urge you all to read the petition below, sign it, and repost this to your own fics. Hopefully if we make enough noise everything will return to normal. Thank you.

Greetings to the fine folk that moderate our site.

Myself, along with many, have been writing and posting on your fine site for years now, some of the better examples of up and coming writers out there are now suddenly finding some of the stories we've come to love at risk of being removed without the chance to even rectify our errors.

For some, that means the permanent loss of a story. While I don't have anything that I believe violates your terms of use, there are those out there that are never able to recover a story in its original form, this is something I find to be almost worthy of a legal action, as while we cannot claim ownership of a character, the stories are OURS and simply destroying them is something that is inexcusable.

It's quite easy to simply add an MA rating, additional filters or even a simple requirement for a free membership to read the stories presented here, and would cut down on hateful anonymous reviews and posts at the same time, so I have to question as to why such a thing, in all this time, simply wasn't added.

If you're worried about falsification of a registration then have an appropriate disclaimer and then there can be no dispute, you took your steps and the PARENTS didn't monitor their children, if that is even your concern. If it is more of a personal view or desire then please at least let people know and give them a chance to remove a story that you and yours find offensive, most people on the site are actually rather cordial when it comes to such requests.

While I cannot say for sure if this letter will even reach those that may be willing to listen, of if it's more akin to a wide spectrum purge in preparation for something bigger, please understand that you are going to be loosing a LARGE number of your writers, and thus your income from a lack of readers if there is not some level of action taken to help with this situation.

I, along with many, think that you should let us know that our story will be deleted if not fixed a month before that happens, at the very least.

For those that may agree with this, please feel free to sign on and send this to the support server, maybe we can get some movement on this.

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Louisa4533


	6. Tesla's Not Hysterical Story

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

**Some people weren't getting a lot of things, so this is another explanation chapter.**

VI

Louisa

Water + Fire = Steam

Tesla's eyes widened, I could see even with the sunglasses blocking most of my sight of her eyes. "Are you done yet?" I asked her.

"Fine." she grumbled.

"And I have another fire to put out." I grumbled back. A wave crashed through the trees and doused the fire. "You can come on out, Leo. I know your there." I called. Leo sheepishly came out from behind a tree, wringing wet. "So it does look like we have another fire user. That's _great_!" I said sarcastically.

"Wha? You don't like me?" Leo said.

"No, I don't like the fact every time a fire user shows up we have a major disaster happening right after that."

"She's got a point." Tesla said thoughtfully.

"And also the fact that naturally fire and water do not cooperate." I said pointedly at Tesla. "And I'm confused. I don't know much about your background."

"What do you know?" she asked.

"I know you showed up at the beach while Alexis was breaking the curfew and scared her out of her mind. Also that you are a daughter of Hephaestus. But that's about it."

Tesla sat down right where she was at. Leo and I made ourselves comfortable.

Tesla started her story quietly. Leo and I had to lean forward to hear her. "I was supposed to be a Cyclops. Hephaestus got a nymph pregnant with me. My mother's side was complicated. Five generations ago, my great-great-great grandmother fell in love with a human. They had half-nymphs. My grandmother was an air nymph. Somewhere in between, one of my great-grandmothers joined the Hunters and then broke her vow after 50 years with the Hunters."

She started to talk louder. Leo and I resumed our normal positions. "After I was born my mother realized that all that mixed blood and then finally a god produced its results." she paused for a second, and Leo frowned.

"You can wait, Leo." I said wryly. Tesla smiled, then continued.

"Hellhounds came, maybe because of my scent, maybe because of Hephaestus, as he was there. My mother was slaughtered. Hephaestus blasted them all to dust. I fled." she took a deep breath. "It took him eight years to either find me or remember me. After being in the wild so long, I could talk to the animals better than I could talk to humans. He showed up in the fire that I had just lighted and gave me a coin, claimed me, and left. I ran for a long time. When I arrived back to my campsite, the fire was still going, as one last gift from him." she snorted. "As if I need anymore gifts." Thunder rumbled in the distance.

"When Hurricane Katrina rolled in, I was inland, in a tree, reading a book. I heard a loud crashing sound. At the time, I didn't have Girly with me, so I didn't know what was coming." it seemed she looked at me resentfully. "The storm surge whipped quickly inland, and it crashed against my tree. My tree, along with many others, fell or was ripped half-way out of the ground from the assault. The water quickly receded and I hit my head on a rock instead of water."

"When I came to, I was miles away from my campsite, and I quickly constructed a shelter." I nodded, thinking of what I did after the big hurricane. "No one found me except the animals. I then made myself at home and found a naturally partially hollow tree and a big hole underneath it. I lived there awhile, and then began to explore."

"How did you get here?" Leo asked.

"I'm getting to that." she said to an impatient Leo. "I decided to travel, even though I was attacked by monsters on every side, every time I turned around. I traveled north. I wanted to see a big city, and instead somehow I ended up on Long Island. I traveled for awhile and by now it was the middle of the night. After I slaughtered yet another monster, I heard breathing, which was Alexis. And the rest of it is history." Tesla finished her story.

"Ok, I'm still confused on how you can understand animals." I said.

"If that's what you heard most of your life, you would understand it too." she replied.

"Good point. We understand English or Spanish or French because we've heard it most of our lives. Why not the same with Animal?" I said.

"What is Hurricane Katrina?" Leo asked.

Tesla and I looked at him, incredulous. "Only one of the top five of the biggest, deadliest, most destructive hurricanes ever to hit the United States." I replied, miffed. "You've _met_ at least three people that I know of that have had their lives wrecked because of Hurricane Katrina." I said.

He looked-um, stunned, I think? I don't know. "Who else besides Tesla?" I did a facepalm.

"One of them you're _looking_ at." I said angrily. "I lost most of my memory because of that _stupid_ hurricane." I said vehemently. Leo scooted a little ways away from me. "I lost my family, my friends, I wind up in some gods-forsaken forest with a little girl named Anne. Nico finds us and takes us to an orphanage, and I never see anyone familiar until I come to this camp." I said through gritted teeth. Leo scooted a little farther away from me. "It was on the freaking _news_ for a freaking _entire year_!" I yelled. "It destroyed the Gulf Coast from Texas to Florida. And I was right smack in the middle of all it!"

"Who else?" he asked quietly. I believe that's the first time he quiet-talked since we went out here.

"Alexis." I said bluntly. Tesla gaped at me. I have no idea why.

"Alexis? Your sister, Alexis? She was in Hurricane Katrina?" Tesla was talking weird.

"Yes, my sister whom I am great friends with, Alexis, who was in Hurricane Katrina, along with everyone else on the Gulf Coast." I said impatiently. Tesla began to mutter to herself.

I caught, "That's...Alexis...kind...while I...hysterics." _That's Alexis kind while I hysterics_? Or maybe _That's why Alexis was so kind to me while I was in hysterics_? I don't get it, but that's the most likely.

I looked down and noticed I was tapping out a sequence for a music piece. _You need to keep your ADHD in check, girl_. I also noticed why Leo kept edging away from me. A small and not very strong tornado whipped around me. I waved my hand and dispersed it.

"So, while we're still not fighting, let's go tell Chiron that we have a disaster coming up." I said, making my voice bright and cheerful. _Oh, joy._

**Please review! By the way, my story on fiction press, Wing It, has NO reviews, and I would very much appreciate it if you'd at least check it out! 8-)**


	7. Whack A Mole, The Demigod Version

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

**I don't really know where this came from. I guess I needed a laugh.**

VII

Alexis

Whack-A-Mole, The Demigod Version

I was having a sparring session against Carter and Zia. Carter had some experience with the sword because of monsters. Zia, when she first came here, had no experience with a sword or dagger or any weapon, really, except for her wand and staff. Now, she was rivaling Carter, and both of them together were a good match for me.

As one, they thrust out towards me. I nimbly slipped through their swords, using the disarming maneuver on Carter as I went by. His sword flew up and landed point-first in the ground, quivering ever so slightly. Zia went on the offense, and she and I did a dangerous dance with flying feet and waving swords. She did another thrust, and I locked my sword tip with her hilt and twisted. It went up, impaling the ground right next to Carter's sword.

I looked at her appraisingly. "You did good."

"You still beat me."

"It took me longer."

"You didn't try to soak me like last time." she retorted.

"What difference did that do?" I scoffed.

"Startle me into almost dropping the stupid thing." she said, gesturing to the swords sticking out of the ground.

"Ah. That's why when I hit it clanged out of your hand."

"Oh, come on. You've gone around this before!" Carter protested.

"You're right. Let's bicker about something else, shall we?" A voice said behind me.

"Hey, Lou." I said without looking.

"I'm not Louisa."

I turned around. "Sorry Tesla." I said sheepishly. Louisa was standing right next to her.

"And here I thought I was a little unique." Louisa huffed.

"Wasn't that what Jaz said when you and Percy said 'no' at the same time?" Zia remarked.

"Yeah." I said.

"So anyway," I said as an afterthought. "Why are you here?"

"We just came back from Chiron. Somewhere Leo got distracted and left us, otherwise he'd be here."

"Why'd you go to see Chiron?" Zia asked.

"Some fire problems." Louisa said with an airy wave.

"Spill." I said.

"Forest fire over by the archery range. Me and Leo put it out. Before we got there, Tesla climbed into the trees to rescue a bird nest." Louisa said bluntly. I smiled a bit. Tesla would do something like that. "And I wanted to convince Chiron to let us help with the fires down south." I sobered up instantly. The fires were getting worse by the day.

"Down south?" Zia said, confused.

"Louisa and I need to talk. If you still want to practice, you can go find one of Athena's campers or spar with each other. If not, you are dismissed. Tesla-" I said, but was interrupted by Louisa.

"Tesla, you'll be coming with us."

I gave her a questioning look, but turned back to the couple. "We'll have a couple goes with each other and then take a break." I nodded my assent and walked out.

"Where can we go?" Louisa said after we walked out.

"I'm taking you to Eva's cave. Percy showed me there once." I said shortly.

We walked in silence. I didn't question why Louisa was letting Tesla in, but I had a sneaking feeling why. She definitely wasn't a Poseidon or Zeus kid, but Hephaestus. Leo was in on it too, so maybe we have another fire user.

I reached the mouth of the cave and walked on. I went right, then left, then left again. When we walked into the cave that was Eva's home for three years and then some, I noticed we had company. Percy, Leo, and Eva were in here too, in a heated discussion. "Mind if we crash the party?" Louisa said wryly behind me. Percy and Leo, who were facing away from us, jerked up, and then relaxed when they saw us.

"We were talking about the fires." Percy said.

"Like everyone else." I said. "We need to go. We're the only ones in this camp that can help tremendously." I sat down on the bed/couch next to Eva. Louisa and Tesla sat on the floor.

"What about her?" Percy gestured to Tesla. "She okay to share with?"

Call my brother paranoid, but at least he's a little more cautious now.

Louisa told him the story of the burning tree and the fire. "Just one little tiny detail you forgot to tell me, eh?" I said to her.

"I couldn't say it in front of them!" she defended herself.

"Wait." Eva said softly. She didn't talk much, but, according to my brother, she was a lot like Beckendorf. Everyone tends to shut up and listen when she talks. "Who is 'them'?"

"Carter and Zia." I answered for her.

"Wait! Carter and Zia could help us! They know magic, right? They could help." my brother said.

I pointed out some things. "One," I held up one finger. "Zia may be able to help, but she wants everything to work perfectly between the House of Life and Camp Half-Blood. She might purposefully let it out what we're doing to Chiron, and that would mess everything up. Two," I held up a second finger. "Carter can't help. He's a combat magician, not an elementalist. Three," I held up my ring finger. "Even if we could trust Zia, she's fire elementalist. She can't control those big Colorado fires. She isn't strong enough. Only if she combined with Ra again will she be able to do it, and she can't unless it's doomsday." I set my hand down. Percy looked down heartened. I leaned over and put my hand on his. "It was a good idea, but it wouldn't work." I withdrew my hand. There was a long pause afterwards.

"Am I the only one who notices that my cave has now become a place where secret meetings are held?" Eva asked into the silence. Everyone burst out laughing.

"Why, what happened at the last one?" Tesla asked, laughing along with everyone else.

"That was when Nico, Eva, and I put together that Louisa combines the Big Three." Percy said.

Louisa looked at him, incredulous. "That was _here_?" Eva nodded. "Well no wonder you two are tense." Everyone laughed again.

"Sorry to break up the mood, but what if we can't convince Chiron to let us go help with the fires?" I said, hating to break up the mood. Everyone stopped laughing.

"Well, we can either stay here, resigned to our fate, or sneak out. And Percy's probably going to do the second one, since expel-ment never stopped him from going and saving Grover and the rest of the camp." Louisa said, rubbing a spot on her arm where Percy playfully punched her when she mentioned the sea of monsters. "Or when he snuck along with the Hunters and Grover to help find Annabeth." Everyone was laughing as Percy's second playful punch sailed right through Louisa as she turned to wind. He overshot it, and fell off of his chair. "Or when-" Louisa was cut off as Percy put a hand over her mouth, his other hand clutching his side and laughing like there was no tomorrow. Eva and I had our hands over our mouths and were watching, and Eva's eyes were crinkled. Tesla's mouth was turned upward. Leo was laughing right along with Percy.

"So, are we going to announce our plan or just sit here, laughing our heads off at Louisa's comments of Percy's rebelliousness?" I said, slightly impatient. Louisa laughed at that. Percy shut up for two seconds and glared at her, then went back to laughing. I had to laugh at that. Leo just laughed harder. "Do you have any water in here?" I asked Eva. She nodded and discreetly pointed at a couple of barrels.

I concentrated, and the water slowly leaked out into a small puddle. The puddle took the shape of a baseball bat. Then it solidified into a watery bat, and flew over and bonked Percy on the head. He looked up, annoyed, and swatted it away.

Instead, the bat went over to Leo, who laughed even harder at Percy's annoyance, and bonked him on the head three times, sounding like, _BONK!, BONK!, BONK!. _Leo must have had a hard head, because he just kept on laughing. I lifted my arms above my head, "holding" the bat, and brought them down hard. The _BONK! _was drowned out by the "_OW!". _Louisa was now rolling on the floor, laughing. I brought the bat over and _BONK_ed her on the head, too. Pretty soon I was playing whack-a-demigod-with-a-watery-bat.

I finally got tired of it and yelled my head off, trying not to laugh myself. "HEY! ARE WE GOING TO SIT HERE ON OUR LAZY BUMS OR GO HELP PEOPLE!"

**Thank you, PrincessofDarkness216, for reviewing on Wing It! I'm forever grateful!**

**By the way, in case you are wondering how Percy got there, he snuck out. He already knows his way through the tunnels, remember.**

**As always, please review.**


	8. Back to the Big House

**Oh my gods I am soooo sorry for not updating in such a long time! Here's another chapter!**

VIII

Louisa

Back in the Big House

Oh my gods that was so funny. It looked like Alexis was playing whack-a-mole.

So, before I get any more distracted by my stupid ADHD, we were now trying to convince Chiron to let us go to Colorado to help the firemen.

"Chiron, come on! People will die if we don't go help them!" Alexis said.

"Where will the water be? You're talented, Alexis, but there is no water in the streams!"

"Maybe not, but there is water in the air! Leo and Tesla can control the fire limits to make sure that it doesn't get to us and Percy, Louisa, and I can douse the fire and leave before the firemen get there! They'll never know it was us!" Alexis outlined the plan.

"Percy and I can do long distance. It doesn't necessarily need to be the streams that dried up. It could be the Colorado river, or an underground reservoir." I pointed out.

"Louisa! You are special and yes, those people need help, but we cannot risk you, child." Chiron said.

"That argument didn't work against me, you really think it'll work on her?" Percy asked dryly.

"Point taken. But-"

"Chiron, how many times have I gone on a quest?" Percy asked.

"Six that I know of."

"How many times was I not allowed to go and went anyway?" Percy asked.

"At least two."

"Three. Louisa is as bad as me, and you know expel-ment doesn't make us hesitate." Percy said. There were a lot of shaking heads in agreement. We'd all gotten expelled at least three times.

"If anything, Louisa is more protected than Percy was when he went on those quests, because she has two reserves of magic, as do Percy and I, and we know how to use them now. Please let us go, Chiron." Alexis pleaded.

Chiron looked at all of us. It seemed as though the whole room was holding it's breath. "Ok. You won-" He was interrupted by a lot of cheering. He raised his voice to be heard above us. "Go consult the oracle."

There was a mad dash to the doors, but I stayed behind a moment. "Thank you sir." I said, then ran after the others.

* * *

_Three of the sea _

_And two of the fire_

_Two will free_

_And catch the one who lit the pyre_

"Well that's comforting. Which two will free what? Who lit the pyre? What is a pyre anyway?" Leo said.

"A pyre is where a bunch of burning rubbish is piled and lit on fire underneath a body." I said.

"Three of the sea and two of the fire. That means us. Tesla and Leo, Percy, Louisa and I are going on the quest." Alexis said.

"But wouldn't the camp be temporarily without an unofficial leader?" Tesla asked.

"Chiron's not going, Tesla." Percy said confusedly.

I poked him in the arm. "She's talking about _you_, silly. You're the one who led the defense team for Battle of Manhattan, you're the one who helped defeat Gaea, you're the one who convinced and organized people to get me and Alexis back. As far as that goes, that's undoubtedly a leader. Not to mention some other small stuff like saving the camp several times and helping join together two uncooperative camps. And saving Artemis. And Annabeth and Grover. You prevented a war on your first week at camp. You managed to help bring Thaila back, and you warned everyone about the Battle of the Labyrinth. You went and saved the Twelfth Legion Fulminata's symbol, and defeated Polybotes with the help of a marble statue with no arms. Even without your memory, you are a formidable opponent and good leader."

"But-"

"Percy, even Chiron was against going after me and Alexis. You took charge and convinced people to go looking for us. Just shut up and accept it already, 'kay?"

"Don't you think that he's got a big enough head already without you listing all his feats?" Alexis said. I punched gently in the arm.

"So, when do we start?"

"In the morning. Daybreak is a good time for decisions." Percy said.

"See? Exactly." I said.

**Ok, I am soooooo sorry about the long wait. I just realized that I am useless at writing two different stories at once. Please check out my Fiction Press story, Wing It! Thank you, Delacour12, for looking at it and reviewing!**

**Also, I have a poll going about who your favorite OC is in my books on my profile.**

**Happy late 4th of July, Americans!**

**Please Review!**


	9. So what now?

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

IX

Alexis

"So what now?"

"So now what?" I asked as we were being driven to the bus station.

"Well." Louisa said, spreading a map of the US on her lap. "We are right here." she jabbed a finger at a small, longish island. "We need to go here." She walked her fingers across the map until she hit a square-ish state, above a state I recognized as New Mexico.

"So basically we're going cross-country. Again." Percy said.

"We're not going to California, Percy. We're going to Colorado. Cali's here." Louisa said, pointing to a long state. "Colorado's here." she said, pointing to the square state again. "A good two states apart."

"So we go to the bus station." I started.

"And we improvise." Louisa said.

"A lot." I added.

"I'm having deja-vu." Percy muttered.

Louisa ignored him and continued. "And we make it to Colorado."

"And then the fun starts." Leo finished.

"And assuming we make it back alive, we throw a party." I muttered.

"Actually, that's a good idea. We've never had a party before. Well, not while I've been here." Percy said, overhearing me. I looked at him as if he'd sprouted two more heads.

"What about Annabeth's centaur in a prom-dress bead?" Louisa asked.

"She didn't tell me all of the backgrounds of her beads, guys!" Percy said, laughing a little.

"Well, you're her boyfriend, so she should tell you." I said.

"Hey, I know! Percy, you've been dating Annabeth for what, three, four years now? The party could be on August 18 to celebrate your anniversary." Leo said.

And that's how the talking deteriorated from the quest to a party that we _might _survive to go to. I let out a sharp whistle to cut through the talking. "Hey! That party can be planned later, for now we have to concentrate on getting back alive first. Three kids of the Big Three and two very strong Hephaestus kids could attract quite a crowd. And not of people either. Monsters. So get a grip on the reality rope, guys! Jeez! I was being sarcastic!"

"Well, sarcastic or not, it was a good idea." Louisa said.

"You could make it so that it's something like you could dress up as something fairy-tale like or something from mythology." Tesla said.

"Masquerade?" someone asked.

"No." three people said.

"Hullo? Are you four even listening? The car's been stopped for five minutes at the bus station. Are we going to get off and go save people or are we going to hitch a ride back to camp and tell Chiron it was a joke?" I said impatiently.

That got everyone's attention. "Thank you. Out!" I stepped out of the van. Next came Louisa, Percy, Leo, and finally Tesla. "Thank you, Argus." He tipped an imaginary hat and sped off.

Louisa voiced what everyone was thinking. "So what now?"

**I'm noticing I have a lot of silent readers. I don't mind, but I would like you to let me know that you're there and not just some glitch on my computer. I'm glad you like my story!**

**Thank you for reviewing, all of the people who have, and please do it again for this chapter!**


	10. On The Road Again

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

X

Tesla

On The Road Again

Oh my gods I can't believe I suggested that. And I can't believe we got distracted so easily.

I turned slowly in a circle, trying to get my bearings. Footsteps echoed everywhere, and the beeps of horns gave me a splitting headache.

"We are at the bus station, no?" I asked. I couldn't tell, because of all the noise and scents. I took off my sunglasses and set them on five feet again.

"Yeah, we're at the bus station. Now we're waiting for a bus. Where should we go? The train station? I don't think that we have enough money for the five of us to go all the way to Colorado." Louisa said absently.

I heard Alexis' faintly accented voice. "Well, most of the way is better than none, right?"

"That's what Annabeth, Grover, and I did the first time we stopped a war." Percy said. "We got most of the way on train and then things kind of went awry, and then we took a taxi."

"Do I want to know what went awry?" I muttered.

Percy apparently heard me and said, "No."

"Didn't think so."

"So are we going to the train station?" Louisa asked.

"Well, that's our best bet." Percy said.

"It's only a block from here. Let's not waste our money and just walk." Alexis said. I caught some mutters from Percy about how that went real well last time.

Crud. I can't walk in this. "Um. Guys?"

Leo said, "Yeah?"

"I can't walk in this. My sunglasses are giving me too much information as it is and I can't do it by simply listening and smelling." I swallowed. I hate having to have help.

"Percy can stand in front of you, and Louisa and I on either side of you just barely brushing your shoulders to guide you. Leo can walk behind you so that you don't fall too far behind." Alexis suggested. I nodded slowly.

Percy stood in front of me, three feet ahead. Louisa brushed my shoulder on my right, and Alexis stood at my left. Leo wandered a little ways behind me.

"We're ready." Alexis said at my left.

And so we proceeded in this fashion. I could feel some weird looks, but I didn't care. I wasn't running into anything, and I wasn't relying on my glasses.

We made it to the train station. "Do we have food?" I asked.

"Don't tell me you're hungry." Percy groaned good-naturedly.

"I'm not. But we might be later, and I don't think we want to waste money in the dining car." I said quickly.

"We have enough snacks to give us three days with a three-course meals every time." Louisa said.

"That's a bit of an exaggeration, isn't it?" Alexis said.

"Yes, Alexis. It's called sarcasm. And trying to lighten the mood." Louisa said, somewhat sourly.

"Hey! If you want to lighten the mood, continue to do so, not sour it further!" I said.

"Five for Colorado." I heard Percy say. **(AN: I have no idea how expensive train tickets are for that long of a ride, but I'm going to go with $100 per person. Let's say they're on sale.)**

"Five hundred." the guy at the podium said. I heard rustling as Percy counted the money and handed it over. I really wished I could've seen the guy's face.

"Car 110, seats four, five, six, seven, and eight." Percy said, reading the tickets, with difficulty, I imagine.

"Percy, car 110 is a freight car." Alexis said.

"Give them here." I said.

My glasses said it was car 101. "Car 101, guys. Not 110. Seats four through eight. I don't need a window seat. Two people can't have a window seat. I'm one of them."

"I'll be the other. I have a book." Alexis volunteered.

"Knowing you, you'll have three or four, not just one." Louisa teased. I think Alexis was the only one with only slight dyslexia.

We boarded the train. We were on the right side of the car, and the seats were in rows of two. Louisa, Percy, and Leo took the window seats, and I sat next to Leo and Alexis sat next to Percy. Some teenage girl sat next to Louisa, and they struck up a conversation.

Overall, the train ride was boring, except for that really weird part.

**Here's the seating chart:**

**Front of car**

**Person/person**

**Girl/Louisa**

**Alexis/Percy**

**Tesla/Leo**

**Person/person**

**Person/person**

**Person/person**

**Person/person**

**Back of car**

**Also, I'm going to throw in a surprise in the next chapter! (Ooo, spoiler!) Will it be good? Or very, very bad? Or maybe a bit of both?**

**Please review!**


	11. Brainstorm!

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XI

Alexis

Brainstorm!

Of course Tesla gives you that hint and then hands the mic to me. But I don't trust Louisa with the mic on this part, so you're basically stuck with me.

So, yes, we had a weird part two hours into it. Long story short, the girl that was sitting next to Louisa was actually a mean monster. She morphed into...I don't what, and lunged at Louisa.

"Oh _mes dieux effing_!" I yelled. Did you know French sounds really distorted when you say it with a British accent and words?

"What?" Leo said.

Percy acted faster than I'd ever seen him move, and had his sword at the girl's throat in less than a second. I blinked. One moment he was sitting there, the next he was looming over the thing and had a sword out.

The thing somehow managed to dodge Percy's faster-than-the-human-eye-can-follow attack, but then, she, it, they, whatever, wasn't exactly human.

Percy and it did a short, dangerous dance in the aisle, and the boy in the back leaped up and plunged a knife into it's back.

"_Jace!_" Louisa yelled. Leo shot some fire out of one hand and burned the head off of it. Louisa slammed her hands together and it broke like a piñata into golden dust.

The passengers looked scared. Percy did snapped his fingers and said, "The girl was never here." to which the passengers agreed to immensely, their fears calmed.

After that, Jace moved up to share his story and excuses where the thing had sat.

It started with him straightening and saying, "What? You think I'd let you two go on a quest after the last one without me?" gesturing to Louisa and I. He sat where the girl had sat. Percy was giving him glares as the protective brother. I sighed at him and rolled my eyes. Jace just grinned back at Percy, completely unfazed. I suppressed a laugh.

"You know you guys are hard to follow? But anyways-"

"Why did you have to follow us?" I asked.

"I already told you. Kidnapping is scary. You guys scared the heck out of the whole camp. While you guys had your secret meetings, we had ours. I got picked, since I was one of the first people you knew at camp." Jace grinned. "You can now consider me a bodyguard."

Louisa looked at him. It was one of those times where I couldn't read her expression. "So this wasn't done by you, but more of the whole camp." she said calmly.

"Basically."

"I'm going to kill them. Starting with Clarisse." she muttered.

"That'll be fun to watch." I said sarcastically.

"But what's more, is what can you do for the fires? You can't control them, you can't douse them, and you're not old enough to volunteer for the firefighting department." Tesla said.

"I can plan. I know where the firefighters are situated, and where they aren't there. I know where it's worst, and where the fires can easily be doused." Jace said. He took out a cylinder, about a foot long, maybe longer. He uncapped it, and a roll of paper slid out. He spread it on his lap, and everyone craned to see except Tesla and Louisa, who couldn't see at all, or could see just fine.

It was a map of Colorado. There were several red squiggly lines that resembled circles. At one point there were blue.

"Where there's red, the fires have expanded. Where there's blue, the firemen have put out fires and beat them back. Where there's triangles is where they are situated. Where there is squares are shelters for people whose homes they have fled because of the fires. The x'd out ones are where they packed up and moved." he said, pointed at the various shapes.

"What's the dotted line?" Louisa asked.

"The best route. The worst fires are there, the most rapidly spreading ones. Also the ones that are most easily put out. The firemen couldn't control them though, so they went on the other side and tried to put it out from that side. They aren't making much progress." Jace explained.

"This train stops at Lamar, Colorado. The fires have already reached Utah. They're now bringing in the army to help them. So far only one death has been reported, but some have major burns and some may not make it." he said grimly.

"If the fires make it across Utah, it will either sputter to a stop where there isn't much vegetation to burn, or it will intensify it. If it does make it across Utah, then this will become a national major concern. If it makes it to Cali, we'll have to bring in the three camps and battle it along with the firemen. The Roman camp would have to move temporarily, and the Egyptians' Nomes in that area have already packed up and fled and tried to battle it." Just then the realization settled in, and that this was a major thing that was riding on the hopes of thousands. "It may even make it to Arizona-" he stopped and looked at me, because I was looking at Percy, because we'd had the same thought.

"Hoover Dam." I said.

"Colorado River." he said.

"Break the dam," Louisa said, catching on.

"And use the force to draw the water out," Tesla said, straightening.

"And douse the fires. It won't make it to Nevada!" Jace said excitedly.

"Annabeth might want to come see it before we break it." Percy chuckled.

"Let's use that as a last resort." I said.

"With our luck, we'll have to use it." Leo said. "Are we done finishing each other's sentences?"

The tension broke, and we all laughed.

**As always, please review! You know how I like to look and see I have more reviews!**


	12. Surprise Attack and The Bag

**I don't own PJO or KC. Nor will I ever. The odds are not in my favor at all. Like, one in a google. But anyway.**

XIII

Louisa

Surprise Attack

So, after that little mind-reading thing, the rest of the two-day trip was absolutely boring.

After the rest of the boring, two-day trip, was absolute havoc, however.

We had made extensive plans on the train, and more often than not, the six of us were all sitting on the floor so we don't have to crane our necks to see or strain our ears to hear, causing some strange looks.

We ignored them.

Getting past the fire department was a little trickier.

As we were getting off the train, a burly firefighter with a little stubble attacked us. Attacked, as in, trying to recruit us.

"Hey! How old are you?" the fireman grabbed Percy's arm, who twisted it on instinct, forcing the man to let go.

"I'm twenty." Percy said calmly.

"You?" the fireman swept his finger towards Leo.

"Nineteen."

"You?" he swung his finger towards Alexis, who sighed, as if this happens to her a lot.

"I turned thirteen last month." The fireman stared for about two seconds, and then grabbed Leo's arm, who did the same thing that Percy did to his other arm.

"You two, come with me." he ordered, giving up on grabbing them.

"Why would we do that and leave our sisters and cousins, who are all nine, thirteen, and fourteen, unsupervised?" Percy said.

"We need firefighters. You are able bodied. Therefore you come with us."

"We are here because we already signed up. I couldn't leave my sisters and my cousin's sister at home, so we brought them. My cousin who lives in this area will pick them up and get out of here." Leo said smoothly.

The fireman eyed Leo. "You have a lot of cousins."

"A lot of people do. I'm one of them."

The fireman eyed Percy and Leo. I guess they looked nothing alike except black hair. "How are you related?"

"Dad's side." Percy said. "Dad's brother got married and had his dad." Percy said.

"Shouldn't he be a lot younger than you, then?"

"Is this twenty questions, or is this putting out fires?" Percy said dryly.

"Right." the fireman turned his back on us, and they all grabbed at me, who turned into air, along with the rest of us, and zoomed away from there.

"I'm going to have to set down, carrying this many people." I shouted to the rest of us.

I turned to air, and Alexis and Tesla and surprisingly Jace doubled over and emptied their stomachs. Percy and Leo looked nauseous, but managed to hold it in.

"Uh, guys? I think we can start fire fighting now!" I said, as I took the air away from the fire. It sputtered, then went out. "Percy! Douse the ashes!"

A water ball materialized out of thin air and soaked the ashes that I had just smothered. I slowly let in the air. A spark flew up, and I slammed it back down again as another water ball flew and soaked the area again.

I waited another three seconds, and let it up slowly. No sparks. No flames. No steam or smoke. Nothing. "Tesla? Where are we exactly?"

"Thirty-eight degrees latitude, one hundred and six longitude."

"Nearest city?"

"Eagle, Colorado." Tesla reported.

"Then we're at least ten miles from the Colorado River." I said.

"We're fifteen from where we need to be." Jace said.

"Well, we did good from what we just did, with just Louisa and Percy and Alexis." Leo said. "I can't see why you dragged me out here for this. You don't need me!" Leo joked.

"Well, since we're at least five miles from anything, let's get walking."

Half an hour later, we arrived at the Colorado River. "No time like the present, right?" Alexis asked slyly.

"You nailed it. Percy, help me. Leo and Tesla, help Alexis. Jace, try to keep out of the way. You might get a little wet." I said.

With that, the river erupted. The flames on my side were smothered and then soaked. The flames were first contained and then doused repeatedly on Alexis' side. Then the half-drained river slowly began to fill back up again.

"Well, that went well." Jace said, wringing wet. I grabbed his wrist and willed the water off of him, then continued to do the same for Tesla and Leo.

"Jace, how much farther until we hit the big fires that we need to put out?" I asked.

"Three miles, I think?" Jace said uncertainly. "Somewhere in there. We need to go-" He consulted the map. "that way." he pointed in a northwesterly direction.

I sighed and said. "Well, we can firefight our way through. Let's go."

"Anyone have a blue marker?" Jace asked randomly.

"Somewhere in here..." Alexis muttered. She somehow stuck her whole arm in her bag.

"Don't tell me, you came prepared." Leo said.

"Well, I need to keep my hands busy." Alexis ground out. She reached even farther, doing a comical face as she twisted and turned to get to the bottom of the bag.

"Jeez, girl, how deep is that bag?" I asked.

"I don't know. Deep." The tip of her tongue stuck out, and she twisted her arm once more. "I've got it! Wait, that's green, not blue. Sorry." She threw it back in the bag. This time she stuck her torso in the bag as well as both arms. "I've got a light blue, ultra fine point Sharpie! Will that do?" she said, a little muffled.

"Yeah, that'll do." Jace said, trying to keep a straight face.

A light blue Sharpie flew out of the bag, thumped Percy on the head, and fell to the ground.

"That's one hard Sharpie." Percy commented, rubbing his head.

Alexis hauled herself out of the bag.

"Now I'm curious. May I see the bag?" I said. Alexis handed it to me.

I opened it up and looked in. "What the...?" It was like a treasure trove down there full of books, markers, colored pencils, notepads, ink pens. It also had two spare sets of clothes for all of us, another treasure trove of snacks, and three two-person tents. It had tissue boxes, textbooks, a ruler or three, one, two, three pairs of glasses. "Everything but the kitchen sink." I remarked.

"What?" Alexis said, grabbing the bag from me. "Where is it? I got so tired of everyone saying that I went and got a kitchen sink, too." I burst out laughing. Alexis, startled, fell all the way into the bag. Jace joined me in laughing, and Percy, Leo, and Tesla followed suit.

"Will _someone_ get me out of here?" Alexis called up.

"What? You don't have a ladder down there, too?" I said, looking in the bag.

"Hmm..." she said, looking around. I spotted a post that could have been a ladder or a bed.

"Maybe over there?" I said, pointing. She clambered over there and started digging it out.

"Hey! There's the watch I lost!" rang out. I almost fell into the bag myself, laughing. "Don't fall! It's cramped enough without two people in here!" Alexis said.

I handed the bag to Jace. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"I'm fine! Except for the fact that I'm stuck in my own magic bag, I'm fine!" I heard Alexis say, irritated.

"Whoa. How deep does this bag go?" Jace said.

"I really have no idea. It's plenty big for my stuff, anyway." she said. "Got it! Tell Louisa she was right about it being a ladder."

Jace turned to me, but I held up a hand. "I heard."

I could see the end of a ladder on the rim. "Can we come down too?" Leo asked.

Jace relayed the message. "No! It's bad enough I'm in here. This thing doesn't exactly have air conditioning!" she said, sounding louder.

The top of her head showed, and we all helped haul her out.

"Well. I think that was more than enough excitement for one hour." Percy said. I agreed.

**Hey, people! I still have my poll going on my profile! It's about who your favorite OC is from my stories. I think I got them all. If I didn't, please let me know.**

**So past that. For me, school will be starting early August, and then my entries will slow to once or twice a week. Just giving you guys a heads up!**

**My story on Fiction Press is still rolling. It's called Wing It. I'd really like you guys to check it out!**

**As I always ask, please review! Thank you!**


	13. Fire, Fire Everywhere!

**I don't own the PJO or KC serieses.**

XIII

Tesla

Fire, Fire, Everywhere, and Not a Bit to Burn

The silence was eerie. Normally I could hear the crickets or rustling of mice or something, but there wasn't a sound except for the fire and our footsteps, and the occasional wave that swept through the forest, dousing everything in its path, courtesy of Louisa, Alexis, or Percy.

I couldn't hear anything. At all. It was rather alarming. I couldn't even hear the tiniest cricket chirp.

I tried not to breathe through my nose; the arid stench overwhelmed me at it was. My mouth wasn't much better, but it was something. There was Leo and I's fire, and then there was out-of-control wildfires. I would take the former any day. Of course, right now we were fighting fires, so we didn't exactly have much of an option.

So far Leo and I have done close to nothing. The once that Alexis needed help is when we helped her, but other than that, we haven't done anything, which makes for a boring mission.

"We're almost there! Just a couple more-"Jace was cut off by the huge blast of hot air.

"Uh, Jace, _almost_, is _now_!" I yelled.

I instinctively controlled the fire so the heat didn't slap my face. I heard Louisa smother it, Percy and Alexis douse the ashes, and then Leo add an extra bit of insurance that it wouldn't spark and start up again. Jace stood there, waiting, bow out in case a monster was stupid enough to go through the flames to get to us. I heard the string being pulled back.

"We're right where we're supposed to be! That way!" Jace yelled over the noise of the flames crackling.

"Percy! We have a problem!" I heard Alexis yell.

"I thought it was 'Houston, we have a problem.'!" Leo yelled at her.

"Leo! This is not a time for jokes!" Louisa scolded Leo.

"Well then what's the problem?" Leo said, confusion showing in his voice.

"That's the problem!" I heard Percy yell. I also heard Leo utter some words I'm not supposed to repeat.

"What is the problem!" I yelled. I had taken off my glasses because they had broken because of the intense heat, and stuffed them in my pocket.

"Fire tornado looking thing!" Jace yelled.

"Oh, great." I sighed.

"Well? Can't you five control it and douse it?" Jace asked desperately.

"We can try…" Alexis said uncertainly.

"We will try." Percy corrected her.

"Wait! There's a house!" Louisa's voice rang out.

"What!" echoed from five of us.

"Is there anyone in it?" I asked hurriedly.

"No. Wait, yes! Katie!" Louisa exclaimed.

"Gardener?" Percy and Alexis asked simultaneously.

"Duh. I don't know anyone else by that name." Louisa said dryly.

"We need to get her out of there!" Leo said. No joking? That was new.

"Does Katie have a little brother?" Louisa asked.

"Yeah. Tons of them at camp." Percy answered.

"Get over there and free them! I'll take care of the tornado." I said. "Leo, control the fire so that it doesn't burn them. Louisa, Percy, smother and douse your way to the house. Alexis, I need you here with water ready to douse the tornado when I get it under control."

I could hear everyone leap to work. I stood there. "Alexis, I need to be able to see. Just bear with me, please." I said quietly. It would be easier to work with Leo, as he was my brother, but Alexis would have to make do.

I grabbed her hand. I really did have too many gifts if I had to do this. "Keep looking at the fire tornado." I told her.

I could feel Alexis shiver slightly despite the heat. I could tell this was an emergency and I had to do this or two more people would die. I joined minds with Alexis. I could see from her point of view. The fire tornado was terrifying.

Let's get this straight before you guys jump to conclusions. I didn't have any power over Alexis, and I couldn't take over her body. All it allowed me was to see for very short periods of time, for real emergencies. We could feel each other's feelings, and it allowed us to see through each other's eyes. It would be like your eyes at water level. It took a lot out of me, so I only used it when I was in dire need. Such as now.

I was running out of energy fast, so I had to do this _now_. I raised my hands and created a shape of a funnel. The fire tornado bent and twisted. I widened my hands slowly. The tornado slowly grew shorter and wider, until it was twenty feet wide and only a couple feet tall.

"Now!" I yelled to Alexis. A wall of water crashed through the trees (or what was left of them) and doused the tornado.

I let go of Alexis' hand and I was slammed back into the darkness. I stumbled against Alexis, who caught me before I could topple over.

"Careful. You used a lot of energy." I heard her voice say. "Let me find some nectar. Just hang in there." She sounded a little alarmed. I heard her rummaging in that massive bag again. "Found some. Drink this."

I felt a straw being pushed into my mouth. I drank. It tasted like warm fish stew on a cold day.

I was able to stand after a couple sips. "Where are the others?" I asked her.

"Coming. As we speak." she said urgently.

**Hi, guys! You people are all awesome who all reviewed! I've only got 13 chapters and have 21 reviews! [Virtual hugs all around] Thank you!**

**Gaia was Framed, as you have asked me several times, I'm not sure whether or not the Egyptians will play a major role in this.**

**Werewolf not a goldenretriver, I'm glad you like my story! I update about every other day or so during the breaks and once or twice a week during the school times.**

**By the way, I'm up to 91 reviews on Clashing Tides! You guys are awesome!**

**Should I make them have to break the Hoover Dam? Just asking...**


	14. Fiery Havoc

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XV

Louisa

Fiery Havoc

Before the absolute havoc that we saw after we rescued Katie and her real brother, I'm going to tell you about _how_ we rescued them.

I led the way, smothering the flames. Percy was right behind me, and Leo was after him, making sure the fire didn't trap us while we were in the flaming house. Jace was the last, covering for both teams.

I tried the knob on the door. Locked. I sent a hard burst of air at the door and busted it down. Percy was right after me.

I smothered a path for Katie and her brother to walk on and gestured impatiently for them to come on. I was starting to cough and my eyes were streaming. "Katie! It's safe to walk on! Get over here! Bring your brother!" I yelled at her.

Katie nodded tersely. She tried talking to him, and then pushed him. Finally she just picked him up and ran towards us.

We ran out of the house, just as the fire hit something, probably gas somewhere, and the house exploded. Percy instantly grabbed us in a bear hug and threw himself on the ground. I wormed an arm out and held it up. The water obeyed me, and shielded the five of us.

Percy looked up when he didn't feel any impact. "Thanks." He said.

"Thank you." Katie said. "I've faced a lot of monsters, but I thought the fire was going to be the last of me." She suddenly started coughing hard. I thumped her hard on the back several times.

"We need some masks. To block out the smoke." I said. "I wonder if Alexis has any."

"Why wouldn't she?" Leo said. "She has everything else in that monster of a bag."

"True." Percy agreed.

"Wait, guys. The prophecy. _Two will free_. We freed Katie and her brother. We freed two people. Not two people will free who-knows-how-many people." I said, realizing.

"Oh." came from several people.

Percy got off of us, and then we could really see the carnage. Where the house stood, there was a giant crater. Flying fiery debris had rained everywhere, setting off a new wave of fire. I saw Jace, standing there, stunned, Alexis, kneeling over Tesla, tears streaming down her face. I'm guessing that Tesla used too much power and passed out.

"We're fine guys. Everyone's fine except sooty and…_smoky-lungs_." I said. That last part was because Jace tackled me and squeezed the breath out of me. I looked over and Alexis was looking in relief at Percy and the others.

"Jace, hi buddy. Am I aloud to breathe? Not that I don't like you, but I think I like breathing better." I managed, sounding strangled. Jace got off of me, blushing. I'm sure I was as redder than a tomato too. "Thanks."

"I swear, Louisa, you are going to be the death of me. I nearly had a heart attack when I heard that explosion." Alexis said to me, but she was busy taking care of Tesla.

"Why is everyone red, Katie?" a little voice said at an exhausted Katie's side.

"Because everyone's hot or embarrassed, Evan." Katie said tiredly.

"Here, I'll take him. Bring him over here." Alexis said.

"Everyone, this is my half-brother, Evan. Evan, this is Leo, Louisa, Alexis, Percy, Jace, and…"

"Tesla." Alexis finished her sentence without looking up from what she was doing. I looked closer and realized that some piece of shrapnel had grazed Tesla's head and knocked her out. Alexis was closing it up, and wrapping a bandage around her head. She gave Tesla a little nectar from a bottle she fished out of her bag. Evan had walked over to her. Alexis looked up at him straight in the eye. "Ok, Evan. I need you to do a big job for me. Are you up for it?" Evan nodded eagerly. "I need you to watch Tesla very closely. If she so much as sneezes, I want you to yell for me as loud as you can. I need to go get something that will help Tesla a lot, and it is in this area. I won't be far away. Can you do that?" Evan nodded again.

"And Katie, I don't care if you're older than me, but I'm giving you orders as your nurse. Lay down before you fall." she said sternly. "Don't do anything wild and crazy while I'm gone." Alexis said as a parting shot before she sprinted into the forest, blasting any fire in her way with water.

**Aww! I don't have one review for the last chapter. Would you review for the next one? Pleeeeez?**


	15. Camp and Pacing

**I do not, nor will I ever, own anything you may recognize from the PJO books or the KC series.**

XVI

Louisa

Camp and Pacing

As soon as Alexis was gone, Katie collapsed and nearly cracked her head open if I hadn't reacted fast enough. I went over and gently got her from the air that temporarily supported her and laid her down. "Jace, find a sleeping bag and a pillow." I ordered. "Percy, get some nectar from your pack. Evan, don't worry about your sister. She'll be a-ok. Percy, please get some water too." I looked up just in time to see Jace lose his balance and nearly topple into Alexis's bag. I grabbed his ankles and hauled him back without jarring Katie's head.

Suddenly Evan shouted, "Alexis!" as loud as he could. Percy dumped the water bottle and nectar off while racing towards Tesla. Tesla groaned and sat up.

"What hit me?" she asked groggily.

"Sorry, that was partly our fault." I said. "Shrapnel. Grazed the side of your head, and knocked you out."

"Is that why my head hurts so bad?"

"Yes. Thank you Evan." Alexis ran to Tesla. "This'll sting a bit, but trust me, it'll be worth it, 'kay?" Tesla nodded her understandment.

Alexis grabbed a small glass cup from her bag and a wooden stick, poured the leaves into the cup that she had been holding, grabbed the stick, and smashed it around the cup.

"A marigold poultice?" Tesla asked.

"Yes." Alexis said shortly.

"A what what?" Leo asked.

"A marigold poultice. Cleans germs out and helps the wound heal faster." Alexis said shortly again. "Handkerchief." I reached into the bag and pulled out a handkerchief. I handed it to her. She dabbed it in the poultice and eased it underneath the bandage. Tesla winced slightly, then began to relax.

"Anyone else have scrapes? I'm making something for burns next. Then I'm helping boost everyone's strength for a while so we can make something half-way decently safe."

"Everyone's got scrapes, Alexis." I said dryly. "The only ones you should worry about though, are Evan, Jace, Leo, Tesla, and Katie. Not the three of us."

"Ok. You first, Evan. Where is a scrape?"

"I have a cut on my elbow where I banged it against a counter yesterday. And one on my knee where I fell out of bed trying to get away from the fire." Evan said quietly. Alexis's lips were twitching, trying not to laugh at the little guy. She dabbed a little on his elbow, and then went for his knee.

"Whoa! That's a lot of dirt! I think you need a little bit of a bath, big guy. We'll wait for your sister to wake up and then you can go take a bath in the river."

"Can't I go now?" he pleaded.

She thought for a second. Then she reached into her bag. She pulled out a pair of small swimming trunks. "These should fit you. Put them on when you get there. Percy? Keep an eye on him and take a bath yourself. I can tell we're setting up camp right here." she reached into her bag again and pulled out three two-person tents, and tossed them to me. "Set those up. They're pretty easy to set up, so you shouldn't have much trouble." she reached into her never-ending bag and pulled a bar of soap and shampoo, and tossed them to Percy. As an afterthought, she grabbed a beach towel for Evan too.

I started setting up the tent and was done in no time. _Wait. Those tents are meant for six people. We have Alexis, Percy, Tesla, Leo, Jace, Katie, Evan, and me. That's two people over. We need another tent._

"Alexis! We need another tent!" I hollered.

"Wait a second…" she said, sounding muffled. "Got one!" It came flying out of the bag and narrowly missed my head.

"Hey! Watch it, girl!" I said indignantly.

Alexis pulled herself out of the bag, and looked at me coming up from a crouch. "Sorry." she said sheepishly.

I set up the tent and rearranged the others to my taste, and then put the stakes in the ground. I walked in a circle for about fifteen minutes, around the tents.

Jace joined me after my fifteenth circle. "Aren't you dizzy?" he asked.

"No. I'm bored. And nervous. And ADHD. And I'm wishing I was doing something constructive. But I'm not dizzy."

"You do this a lot." he said.

"Yeah." I admitted. "Especially when I can't sleep."

"What's wrong with sleeping?"

"Nothing. But sometimes I don't do enough during the day, and my mind wanders, and I can't get to sleep within a timely manner."

"What's a timely manner to you?"

"I'll lie in bed for an hour, and then I'll start pacing." I said bluntly.

"An _hour_?" he said, I think awed. I would rather not.

"Did I forget to mention that I'm a tosser? I toss and turn the whole time." I said, laughing.

"Oh."

"Drives me nuts. It's almost torture." I groaned.

He laughed.

"Don't laugh at me! You're probably almost as bad!"

"No, sadly, I am not. I only have dyslexia, not ADHD too." he said.

"Count yourself lucky." I grumbled.

"I do."

"Grr! Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed by yours truly?" I half-laughed, half-yelled at him.

"No, I'm trying to make it so that you aren't bored." he said, laughing.

"Well, did you want to either go swimming or did you want to swordfight?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"Well, since you'll probably beat me at the sword fighting, I'll take swimming." I gave him a long look that meant I thought he was joking. "I'm not joking!" he said, getting the look instantly.

"I always bring my swimsuit, but I'm not sure about you." I said warily. He was nice, yes, but he reminded me of someone who would play me and then turn around.

"I've got a pair of swim trunks." he said simply.

"Fine then, swimming it is!" I said.

**Awwww! So finally I have a little bit of Lace. Or is it Jisa?**

**Come on, people! Do I bust down the Hoover Dam or not? Thank you, Myrna Maeve, for reviewing and voting for busting the Hoover Dam. I personally want to do it, but I'd like to see what my readers think. For or not?**

**Please review!**


	16. Cures

**I don't own PJO or KC! Jeez! This is getting really annoying!**

XVI

Alexis

Cures

There were cures for almost anything. The cure for pain was numbweed. The cure for scratches was marigold. The cure for burns was aloe leaf crushed with thyme. The cure for weakness was some of Tesla's sillhiy. The cure for boredom, for Louisa, anyway, was Jace. But there was no cure for worry or stress. Not any herb I knew could cure it completely. The only relief was sleep, and that was temporary.

The tents were up. People were taking baths to wash the soot and ash off. Everyone had been treated for cuts except for Evan, who was currently taking a bath. Tesla was conscious, and Louisa and Jace were busy. Everyone was more or less ok. Except for Katie.

The strongest daughter of Demeter I knew, and I knew a lot of them. She was always moving, always doing something. Whether it be that she was taking care of her little brother or be it that she was sword fighting with the Athena cabin.

She was smart, intelligent, even, close to a daughter of Athena. She was wicked with a sword and had mastered the whip, a very deadly weapon. She was friendly and nice, and she had seemingly inexhaustible energy. I had a very high opinion of her, and I didn't have that in most people.

No matter what I did to try to revive her, she was still conked out. I tried as hard as I could, but it was like she was under some spell, and she couldn't wake up, like Sleeping Beauty.

I used every herb I knew to try to revive her, and she wasn't waking up.

I sat back on my knees and toes and reviewed all the herbs that would sufficiently wake her. Thyme, rosemary, marigold, even, sometimes. Juniper berries for bellyaches, oak bark, maple sap, rain water mixed with two drops of thyme, rosemary, and marigold poultice, extremely strong. It was as if someone laced her water with fellis juice.

Nothing. I had used every herb, poultice, juice, and piece of ice I could think of. Tea? Rose hip tea. Morning Tea. No. Neither of them are strong enough.

I got up from my cramped position and stretched. My muscles screamed in protest they were so stiff. Aches and pains…uh, poultice of marigold and thyme slathered on bare skin. Numbweed helps, too, but it makes it so you almost can't walk. That's for right before bed.

"Hi. Is Katie better?" Evan said at my side.

"She should be awake by now. I don't know what's wrong with her, big guy." I ruffled his hair. "But I need to take a bath myself. I'll get Tesla." I started to go in that direction, but Evan grabbed my arm.

"But Katie needs you."

"Where's Percy? Oh my gods." I face palmed myself. "Why didn't I think of that before?"

"Didn't think of what before?" Evan asked.

"I can cure her. But it's going to take a lot of power." I said. "Evan, would you please go find Percy and tell him that I'm going to water heal Katie? He'll know what I mean."

"But-"

"Evan, if you want me to be in the same state as Katie is right now after I heal her, don't go get Percy. Percy's able to keep me awake. So go find Percy!" The six-year-old scampered off.

"Ok, Katie. Let's do this." I held out my hand, and water plopped in it. I purified it so that it wasn't dirty, and injected some of my power into it. I started to feel dizzy. I gently poured it down Katie's throat, and stroke her throat so that she'll swallow.

Katie groaned and opened her eyes. The dizziness was getting worse. _Heal. Wake. Heal._ I thought. The cuts and scratches slowly disappeared. The burn on the side of her head shrank, then altogether disappeared. Katie was looking more and more alert. I was getting more and more dizzy and light-headed.

"Alexis?" she said weakly.

"I'm here." I didn't sound much better than her.

She grabbed me by the shoulders before I took a header. "Thank you." she said.

Percy burst into the camp with Evan panting and trying to keep up right on his heels.

Percy grabbed me by the shoulders. "What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking I couldn't get her to wake up any other way." I said weakly.

"Hold on. Please, Alexis, hold on." he said.

"I'm trying. It's not easy, either." I managed.

"Oh forget the river." he cursed. He plunged his arm in my bag and brought out my bottle of water. He gripped it, and then splashed in my face. It woke me up fast, because it was extremely cold.

I sputtered, and wiped some of the water off of my face. "Thanks."

"Don't do that again until I'm here." he scolded. "Where is everyone?"

"Tesla's in a tent, sleeping off the medication I gave her. Leo is somewhere around here, probably building something. Louisa and Jace went to go take a swim because Louisa was bored out of her mind and wearing a hole in the ground pacing. You're busy scolding me, and Katie's being tackled by Evan. And I'm still conscious. All accounted for." I gave the report quickly. "And since Leo, Katie, Tesla, and I are the only ones without a bath, Katie, Tesla and I can go take one now. I'm sure I have a spare bathing suit for Katie. We're about the same size."

"Ok. Katie, keep an eye on her."

"Percy, I can't drown." I said dryly.

"No, but you can disappear."

"But I haven't."

"Oh? What was that kidnapping from last year?" he argued.

"I didn't disappear. You knew I went on a boat that floats on air."

"And we couldn't find you after that."

"But you eventually did. And we made some new allies that could help us in a dire emergency. So really, the last time I 'disappeared' we made some new friends. New friends that hosted gods, but weren't demigods like us. Who knows? Maybe there are Norse gods or Indian gods. Look at the Romans. We didn't know each other existed before you and Jason 'disappeared'. So shut it on the disappearing act." I snapped.

Percy backed off and held his hands up in defense. I got off the ground and helped Katie up. I walked over to the tent I was pretty sure Tesla was staying in and called her name.

"Yes?" a sleepy voice politely called. The door unzipped to reveal Tesla.

"We need to go take a bath. You, me and Katie. We're absolutely filthy." I said, slightly amused.

She ran a hand over her face and rubbed her fingers together. "Yeah, we are." she agreed.

On our way there I could hear Louisa and Jace laughing and talking, going the opposite way from us. On their way back to the camp, I guess.

Katie, Tesla and I washed up the hard way since the wash turned into a splash war. I let go of my usual water-proof-ness and didn't use my powers to drench anyone, only my hands. It took about fifteen splashes each to get the whole of the dirt and ash off, and then there were the hard ones that couldn't come off with just some water.

By the time we got out, we were all soaked to the bone and relatively happy. When we got back to camp, we discovered that everyone was gone.

"Where are they?" Katie asked, hand over her mouth. "Where's Evan?"

"Where's Percy and Louisa?" I asked.

"Where's Leo and Jace?" Tesla asked.

Then there was the holler and roar, and the clash of sword on claw.

**Oooo! What is it? A hydra? A chimera? A raving, sword-swinging, fire-breathing lunatic? Ok, I was kidding about the last one, but try to guess the monster. You do, and two virtual cookies! (::) (::)**

**As they say, idleness knits the garters of devilry. So, get rid of your idleness and REVIEW!**


	17. How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Date

**OH MY GODS, I got NINE reviews in one chapter! I could freaking love you guys!**

**The two virtual cookies go tooooooo…. irishpixie823! Congrats! Two virtual cookies, (::) (::) .**

**Oh, and I will never own Percy Jackson or any others that Rick Riordan (hopefully, otherwise we are in major trouble) made up.**

**Please read the authors note at the bottom also!**

XVII

Louisa

How to Ruin a Perfectly Good Unofficial Date After a Monster Attack

While the three were gone, Jace had sounded the signal that there was a monster on it's way; be ready. I armed myself with my magic knife and a shield. Leo had a fireball in each hand. Percy uncapped Riptide and grabbed a shield. Evan didn't really know what to do.

I crouched in front of him. "Ok, Evan, until we get the all-clear signal, you need to stick to Tesla's side like glue, ok? Stay out of the way, and stay safe." Evan nodded his head at me, looking scared, and ran towards the river.

The horn came again. Three beats, one sequence. Be ready. Not all clear like I hoped.

I readied my shield and knife. Percy got into the standard fighting stance. Leo readied his fire balls. As soon as we did so, the trees in front of us exploded into an inferno.

The monster that emerged from the flames took me by surprise, as it seemed it was formed by a dozen different animals. It had the head of an eagle, another head of a goat, the front paws and body were of a lion's, and the back paws were hooves of a goat's. Where the tail was supposed to be, there was a snake.

"What the heck is that!" I hollered. It turned it's eagle head towards me and let loose a torrent of flames in my direction. I said something that I shouldn't be saying and put up a barrier of water before the flames reached me.

"It's a chimera! I fought it on my first quest and tried to burn down the St. Louis Arch!" Percy yelled back. The goat head spat at him, and Percy rolled out of the way. Where he had been standing was steaming and smoking.

"It spurts fire, poison, and acid!" Jace yelled from the trees. "Stay away from the heads!"

The chimera lunged in my direction, and I swung my knife without thinking about it. The eagle head thumped to the ground and turned into monster dust at my feet. "Ew." I said. "One less head!" I called.

I could see Percy lunging for the snake head, and Jace shot the goat head in the eye. Suddenly several arrows sprouted from the snake's head, and a knife impaled the goat's head. A brown, green, and silver blur raced past me and chopped the chimera neatly in two. When it didn't turn into ash instantly, a blob of fire appeared above it and fell on top of it. After I smothered the flames, there was no sign of the chimera.

I turned around to see Alexis standing with a bow in one hand, a quiver on her hip, and a throwing knife in the other hand. Katie was standing on the opposite side of the battle site sword in hand. Tesla was standing next to Alexis, looking slightly bored.

"Well, I haven't seen you decorated in that many weapons in awhile, sis. When did you learn to throw knives?" I said, attempting to break the ice.

"About three seconds ago." she said grinning at me. She sheathed her remaining knife and slung the bow over her shoulder. Katie sheathed her sword, and Tesla began walking back to the campsite.

I thought it was going to be a long night. But as soon as I crashed into my sleeping bag, I was out instantly. Too bad my dreams weren't the same.

My first one was a weird dream, a cat clawing at Percy. My second one woke me up screaming though, alerting Jace that something was wrong, but didn't wake Percy, who sleeps like the dead. I mean, seriously, I have to throw a bucket of water in his face to wake him up some days.

My second dream, as I mentioned before, scared the living Hades out of me. It started like this: I was standing on a rocky outcrop, looking towards the sea. I could feel power coursing through my veins, and terror through my head. The sea and the sky were fighting, doing a deadly display of waves, hurricanes, and tornadoes. The more I stood there, the more I could feel the power in me, and I was finally able to wrench my gaze away from the clashing sea and sky. What I saw in the other direction was worse. My friends, from Camp Half-Blood, the few I've met from Camp Jupiter, from the Brooklyn House, everyone, were battling for their lives against a hoard of mythology monsters and Egyptian demons. They were being pushed towards a boiling red sea that I knew held the Egyptian embodiment of chaos, Apophis, and the oldest of Greek mythology: Chaos himself, father of Gaea and Ouranos.

A red-skinned man rose out of the red sea and grinned right at me. Then he swiped his massive hand toward me, and knocked me over the rocky outcropping. Screaming, I fell, towards the sharp rocks and clashing tides below, and woke myself up with my own screaming.

Jace unzipped my tent quietly. "You okay?"

I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine." I lied, turning my face away from him.

"No, you're not. C'mon out." he held out his hand to me, and I took it to help me get out of the slightly cramped tent.

"What time is it?" I asked him.

"I'm on my second watch. I don't sleep well right now. I've gotten four hours if that's what you're worried about." he said. I sat down a boulder that reminded me a little too much about the sharp rocks from my dream.

"No, am I going to be up until dawn, or will I stay awake the next hour and then go back to sleep?" I asked him.

"It's almost dawn right now." he said. "It's 5:45 a.m." He leaned against a tree, facing me and east.

"Then I'm staying up. Excuse me while I get some real clothes on." I said, hoping the duskiness would cover my slight blush. All I was wearing was an old tank top that was more blue-green and gray than white, I'd washed it so many times with other colors. Jace nodded in my direction, and then proceeded to climb the tree he had been leaning on.

I grabbed my clothes quietly out of my tent, and went down to the river to splash water onto my face to wake me up a little and dress in private. As much as I hated to, I thought about the dream, and debated whether or not it was a future dream or just an extreme nightmare. I was really hoping extreme nightmare. But it sounded too close to my prophecy, _The world shall tear itself apart, In a frenzy of sea and sky. _It was too close. _Way_ too close.

I snapped out of my day dream and realized that I was fully dressed and been standing at the river's bank for five minutes, just thinking. I sat down, not caring if my jeans got dirty. They'd be filthy again by the end of today, I can guarantee it.

I watched the sun come up, and the river reflected the oranges and pinks and reds and the somewhat-still-midnight blue sky. The sun was bright orange and hung low still in the sky.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Jace said behind me. I was startled, but didn't let it show in my posture.

"Yep. I should get up before dawn more often." I joked. I patted the ground next to me, inviting him over.

Jace walked over and sat down. "I've always wondered why other people like to sleep in. They're missing the best part of the day." he said, to which I nodded in agreement.

The sun rose higher, and the display of all the different colors disappeared. "Apollo's speeding today." I said.

"No, it's always pretty short. This time it was a little longer, but not by much." he said wistfully.

"I just wish the forest was as pretty as that sunrise." I said, with equal amount of wistfulness.

"It'll grow back." Jace said confidently.

"Only if we stop those fires from spreading. Speaking of which, why haven't we seen hide nor heat of a flame all night? I thought the fires were moving fast." I asked him.

He got to his feet. "One second." and bolted off.

When he returned, he had a laptop case under one arm, presumably with a laptop in the case.

He sat down, flipped it open, typed in the password, and clicked on Internet Explorer. We waited a couple second while it was loading, and the first page made out eyes widen.

He cursed. "We've gone international."

It showed the spot we've been firefighting in, and a reporter was frozen on the screen. I clicked on it.

_For some mysterious reason, the fires by the Colorado River are slowly disappearing, but it isn't to out brave firemen working in the area. Three days ago, the firemen reported it 'was almost impossible' to work their way through those flames. Now, however, it seems that someone is working by themselves to do the work that the firemen could not. The firemen are relieved, of course, but we would all like to meet the brave hero. Or is it heroes? Back to you, Mike._

The screen switched to a man instead of a woman. _That's right Wanda. Recently, several eyewitnesses saw six teenagers working their way through the blaze, and one took a video of it. Here it is._

The scene showed us before we found Katie and Evan, working our way through the flames. It looked like we were using pumps from the river to blast the fire with water, instead of just levitating it. Leo and Tesla held another pump, controlling the perimeter of the fire to make sure it didn't get any closer while we put out the actual blaze.

Both Jace and I cursed loudly. The screen switched back to the reporter called Mike.

_We'd like to thank the brave heroes who are helping in all ways. But a warning from the newsstation, people are after you, trying to find the brave heroes who saved many already, including two people from a near-exploding house._

The scene showed a far-off scene of the explosion. Debris flew sky-high, and half a couch landed in front of the camera.

Jace snapped the computer shut, cursing under his breath, and stuffed it in the case. I got up fast, and Jace was already on his feet, sprinting towards the camp.

He shouted, and I yelled. "Our cover's been blown! Get up! We need to move out, fast!" I barged into Percy's tent, who hadn't even stirred. I shook him hard. He groaned. "Our cover's been blown wide open. We need to move out. A couple people caught us on video, firefighting, and another video showed Katie's house. We have to get out, _now_." I said. He woke up fast. I left the tent so he could get dressed in private.

Everyone else was up. Two of the tents were already half down. All of the sleeping bags were rolled up and stuffed into Alexis' bag.

"Oh, I hope we make it before somebody finds us." I muttered.

**Ok! I'm doing responses, so you can skip this part, but please read the last part!**

**Guest: "LOL! I think she put her Duat locker in her bag!" **She didn't, it's just a magic bag. I was thinking that Louisa and Percy have magic weapons, so Alexis should get something a little bit different!

**irishpixie823: "Cute, but I thought Jace liked Alexis." **No actually! Jace likes Louisa. Towards the end of Clashing Tides, Jace crushes the wind out of Louisa, and he's done it again when she was alive after the explosion of Katie's house.

**Gaia was Framed: Since you always do so many, (and I'm not complaining) I'm just going to do all of the responses on this one. "I hope Katie and Evan make it out alive, but I have a feeling we have yet to see the end of the enthralling half-blood vs. force of nature battle!" **In this case, you are absolutely right! It won't be until the party when everyone _really_ relaxes.** "Yay, Lace! And I second Myrna Maeve. ON TO HOOVER DAM! FOR OLYMPUS!" **Ok, then! That's another vote to break the Hoover Dam! I'm really looking forward to it!** "The air *terrible pun alert* crackled *terrible pun over* with excitment all through the chapter! Loved it. Probably your best writing yet." **Aww! Thanks! And BTW, it wasn't that bad of a pun. **"I'm guessing that the big nasty critter is a manticore-the man-headed lion that tried to kill Bianca and Nico in the Titan's Curse. We haven't seen him for a while, so he might've reshaped. Or maybe he has cousins. Question is, what it do to our heroes?" **Sorry, but you weren't right that time! And did this chapter answer your question?

**irishpixie823: "I'll say the chimera." **Congrats! You won the contest! Here is your two virtual cookies! (::) (::)

**Myrna Maeve: "Is is that Lion with the really strong hide?" **The name you're looking for is the Neamean Lion, and nope it isn't that. Sorry!

**Guest: "Will the Egyptians be involved in this? I thought Gaea was forced back to sleep by Percy and the other seven. Is she making a comeback, or is the fire-starter someone else?" **Oh, Gaea's going to be asleep for another thousand years at least, so no, it's not her. It's a mortal.

* * *

**Ok! Done with all of the responses, so READ this part, please:**

**I have three votes to break the Hoover Dam, and none to not break it. So, if you object, please post your vote now! If your vote is not in by the time I post chapter twenty, don't bother to post it, because I won't count it.**

**I have gotten several reviews from several different people about whether or not the Egyptians will show up, so please read: So far, I'm thinking not. But that may change! The Egyptians may show up towards the end of the story when they're battling the bigger flames, or when they break the Hoover Dam, and do a really small part in the story.**

**In 19 days I go back to school, and I will do my best to finish this story before then.**

**I'm debating on whether to end this series the next book or in book number five. Post a review and tell me book 3 or book 5!**

**Thank you for reading all the way through this! I know this was a long author's note.**

**Thank you to all of you who have reviewed!**


	18. Escaping

**I don't own PJO or KC. Seriously, next you'll be calling me J.K. Rowling.**

XVIII

Louisa

Escaping

After we finished packing up, we ran for the fire. "Tesla, Leo, you go first! Percy, grab onto Katie, Alexis, grab onto Evan, and cover yourselves with water! Jace, sorry, but you gotta hold onto me!" I yelled to them. I grabbed Jace's hand, which would've been nice in other situations, but this was about as un-romantic as you can get. I focused my power on him, and the water in the air around us covered us, so we were protected from the fire.

It would take Percy, Alexis, and I longer to burn, and Leo and Tesla couldn't burn, but Katie, Evan, and Jace were as vulnerable as a mortal when it came to fire.

Jace and I fell into a rhythm where we weren't tugging on each other's arms, and we both ran at the same pace. Percy and Katie were at the front, then Leo and Tesla, then Alexis was carrying Evan, the poor guy, and me and Jace kept a look out for monsters and reporters.

We all looked _really_ heroic. All of our clothes were in disarray, and Alexis' hair was absolutely wild. I could see why she wore it in a braid most times. My hair had grown in the last year, and it was now past my shoulders, where as before it was just barely brushing them, and was all in my face. I spat out a strand that worked its way into my mouth. Percy's hair was wilder than usual too, and Tesla's hair was all in her face. Leo's hair somehow became curlier. Katie's hair was fine, she had managed to tie it back into a ponytail. Evan and Jace's hair were the only ones in the group that were half-way decent because their's were short and straight.

When I looked behind me I saw a flash. Probably a reporter or someone's camera, not lightning. I'm sure I looked heroic, with my hair in my face, holding hands with a boy, and running away.

When we got too tired to go on, we were near the Colorado River.

We all collapsed on the bank. "I think we're going to have to use that last resort, guys. Leo and Katie can hang onto Percy and Tesla and Jace can hang onto me. Evan can hang onto Alexis." I suggested. "And travel downstream to the Hoover Dam."

"This is an emergency, and we've been thrown off the track majorly, but only if it makes it across Utah. Remember, we can't break it until Annabeth sees it." Percy said, half-joking.

"We can't go on like this much longer, especially with a little one. And I don't mean Tesla. Evan can't keep up with our longer legs, and we can't leave him behind. Someone will always have to carry him when we're running, and that'll slow us down." Alexis said. "Sorry big guy."

"Let's just try to out-live today. Ok?" I said. "I was just suggesting something. I was making a statement that this is an emergency, as pointed out by Percy. Let's catch out breath and get our hair under control so it isn't in our faces and then start up again." I said, and proceeded to whip out a hair brush and a hair band from my pack. I saw that Tesla and Alexis had done the same also. I pulled my hair back into a low ponytail. Alexis had braided her hair, and Tesla tied the top part of her hair back in a small ponytail, leaving the rest of it to fall past her shoulders. Currently, her eyes were a rich brown.

Percy raked his fingers through his hair, and Leo just ran his hand through his hair like you'd do if you were bored. Evan and Jace didn't do anything, apparently used to waking up and not having to brush their hair.

I stood up and walked around after I was done. Katie gave me a sympathetic look. "So are we ready?"

"Yeah." Came from everyone, most of whom looked bored.

"Then let's start!" I yelled. I blasted the nearest flame with water, and it sizzled and went out.

We got into groups. I didn't have any help, but Leo and Percy teamed up, and Alexis and Tesla were battling the flames. Katie and Jace were on the ground or in the trees scouting for reporters or monsters, both of which were a major threat. Evan just sat down where he was, looking for something to do.

After all the flames had been reduced to ashes within a 50-yard radius, Percy signaled to Katie, and we moved upstream. We went like that for the rest of the day, taking breaks and crashing when we needed to. When all of us finally crashed we made camp and had two people for two hours each on look-out throughout the night.

That night, I dreamed of a shred of memory from before the hurricane.

**Ooo, wonder what it is! For those of you impatiently waiting for me to be done with this and on with the next book, which I've decided I'll call Sun's Heat, I'm giving you a one-time sneak peek! Here it is:**

**SNEAK PEEK!:**

**"Collaborator with Luke, slave to the Lord of Time, defeater of the first Hydra, enemy of the gods, servant of the earth, killer of Michael Yew, and overall a dangerous enemy, stopped by a sword's tip. That's a first." Alexis mused. "I'm still wondering how I managed to call you a friend before."**

**"It's a gift." she said. With that, she lunged for her sword, pushing mine away from her chin with her bare hand.**

**END OF SNEAK PEEK!**

**So how's that for a list of evil-ness? Also, I am up to 6 for breaking the Hoover Dam, and I have two for book five. Please vote!**

**Did you like it, or did you hate it? Sun's Heat I am also writing with a partner, so it will be a bit different than normal.**


	19. Monster Here, Enemy There

**I don't own PJO or KC. I will not ever own it, and I only own my characters and the plot. I'm not Erin Hunter, either.**

XIX

Louisa

Monster Here, Enemy There

I sat bolt upright up my bed. _Oh my gods. Oh my gods. Oh my gods. Chill, Louisa. It was just a dream._

Problem was, it _wasn't_ just a dream, no matter how much I'd like it to be.

In my dream, I was sitting in a classroom that looks familiar, but I couldn't place it. A girl with black hair and bright blue eyes sat next to me, and looked very familiar, like a younger version of Eva. Wait a second, that _was_ a younger version of Eva. On my other side sat a girl that also looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place her. She had the same bright blue eyes as Eva, only with dark brown hair.

The door burst open across the classroom, interrupting the droning teacher, and instantly there were screams, as it was a monster of some sort. It lunged towards Eva, and I grabbed my pencil and stabbed in the eye. The girl with dark brown hair didn't move. The monster disintegrated into dust, and Eva fled out the door.

The last time I saw her before I came to Camp.

I was shaking. I knew Eva told me that I had defended her with a pencil, but I hadn't realized how terrifying it had been for her and me, not to mention the class and teacher.

I crawled out of bed and went outside. I climbed the nearest still-standing tree and looked at the moon, which was low on the west horizon.

"Well that something you don't normally see in the middle of the night." said a voice on the ground.

I looked down. "Hey, Katie."

"Dreams?"

"Always." I replied.

"You want to share?"

"It's about my past." I said quietly. Nearby, a lone cricket chirped, giving me hope there was still life around here, and not just us.

"I'm coming up. Percy mentioned that you don't remember much before Hurricane Katrina."

I nodded mutely.

Katie reached the branch that I was sitting on. "You could go to the Hypnos cabin and try there, like Annabeth tried with Jason when he first came to Camp Half-Blood."

I shuddered. "Even if my memories _were_ stolen, I think the gods had a good reason, and not just to torment me. And even if they weren't, I don't want someone in my head."

"There's you."

"Fine then, someone _else_ in my head." I retorted.

"What was the dream?"

"The last time I saw Eva before I came to Camp." I said quietly. "Eva had told me that I had defended her from a monster with a pointy pencil, but I hadn't realized how truly scary it was."

"So, you don't remember anything?"

"I remember the wave, and I remember my mother, somewhat. I now I remember this. But other than that, no, I don't remember anything." I said bluntly.

"Well, better than nothing, right?"

"Not always. I'm half-wishing I didn't remember anything."

"Why?"

"You didn't experience the fear I just woke up with. I'm going back to bed." I jumped from the branch I was sitting on to the ground.

I didn't get another wink of sleep that night. Just before dawn I crept out and watched the sun come up.

* * *

Everything was going fine until around noon. We'd covered over a mile up the river, and Jace was keeping up-to-date on how far they had tracked us. They knew where we had put the fires out, but they couldn't find much signs of camps besides where we pegged the tents down. We didn't leave anything behind, not even garbage. If we came across a small fire-ravaged village, we would scout for people, and stuff our garbage into a garbage can and wait for the fire to consume it. Several times we had to get people out of burning houses or shops and drop them off at the nearest shelter, then disappear.

I kept my worries to myself, but I was sure that monsters were tracking our progress as well as mortals, and most likely doing a better job.

If the reporters found us, the monsters would be right there instantly, and then we'd have to save the mortals as well as ourselves from them. No doubt it was a lot of monsters, having three of the Big Three and two very strong Hephaestus kids, and then a strong Demeter and her younger brother, who was a clear-sighted mortal. Between us there had to be at least two monsters for each of us.

It was only a matter of time.

And then a hellhound burst from the flaming bushes as I was dousing them. I instantly had my sword out.

"Wait!" Percy called. I hesitated, and the hellhound licked me to next week.

"Sorry Mrs. O'Leary." I said sheepishly. She licked me again. A figure dropped off of Mrs. O'Leary's back.

"Is everyone here?" it asked. It pulled down the hood, and Eva's face came into view.

"Yes, everyone is here, and we picked up a stowaway and a demigod and her brother from a burning house." I said quickly.

"Jace?" I nodded. "Who's the other two?"

"Katie and her brother."

"Gardener?"

"Katie Gardener is the only Katie I know!" I said exasperatedly.

"You need to get back to camp, now. Reporters are closing in."

"You think we don't know that?" Alexis called.

"They're at our last campsite as we speak!" Jace yelled over.

"Then they're a mile behind us, at least." Percy said, quenching batch of flames.

"A mile?" Eva asked.

"Eva, would you _like _to get burned? We're trying to put _out_ the flames, not stake some one _in_ them!" I asked sarcastically. Eva moved out of the way, and I smothered and soaked the flames for ten feet in any direction. "Yes, Eva, a mile. We move fast, you know. We're almost through with this route, and then we're going to go over the Colorado River and work on our route that's over there. If things get really bad we can break the Hoover Dam, but only if we really, really need to."

"Ok, then. If you're sure you have it handled, but Chiron wants you eight to come back to camp. Especially Katie and her brother. Chiron realized that Katie hadn't registered, and sent me to see if you found her, and if you had, to bring her back with me, but I can take her brother as well."

"If Katie wants to go, I guess that's fine." I said uncertainly.

Jace yelled to Katie. "You want to go back to camp?"

"Why would I do that, and moreover, _how_ would I do that?" Katie's voice was faint.

"Well, Eva's here to take you and your brother back to camp if you were alive and well." Jace yelled back.

Katie cursed. "I forgot to register, I was so caught up in everything else. But no, I don't want to go back to camp now."

"Ok, if she's sure, I'll go back to camp and tell Chiron." Eva said, who had heard the whole conversation.

Eva made as if she was going to get back onto Mrs. O'Leary, but I grabbed hold of her arm and tugged her to one side. "I remembered the last day I saw you." I said quietly. "Last night I had a dream about it."

Eva looked startled, and then her face told me she remembered that I couldn't remember for a long time. "It was scary. I could see on your face when ever I told you about it, it didn't register with you that it was terrifying."

"Who was the girl? The dark-brown haired one? She looked familiar, like I'd seen her after that."

Eva looked at me. "You probably know her as Joann Pates, but her real name is Joann Payton, the last one that served Luke and the one who has evaded capture for five years." she didn't say it loudly, but over to my right, I could see Alexis pale, even though it was extremely hot.

Eva clambered up Mrs. O'Leary and she bounded away into the shadows.

A dangerous criminal was on the loose, the one who might've set the fire. _And catch the one who lit the pyre_…

**So have any of you put the two together? Just remember that two and two could make 4 or 22.**

**Ok! So I have 7 reviews saying I have to break the Hoover Dam. Any objections? Going, going...**

**I have two people who want me to end the series at book 5. Good, cause I've already figured out a plot for Sun's Heat. I'm not sure what to do for book 4, title or plot or anything else, but let's get through Sun's Heat before I start talking about that.**

**Gaia was Framed: "Well-written chapter, and I'm glad they're all safe. You've really whet my curiosity with that sneak peek. Who could that girl possibly be?" **I'm glad you liked it! I'm not entirely sure what whet means, but I'm guessing that's a compliment, so thank you! And the last one you'll have to figure out by yourself.

**irishpixie823: "Oooh, can't wait for the next book. Great writing!" **Thanks! I think you'll be pleased when it comes out!

**Also, I'm sorry, all of you who did a guest review that it didn't show up. I missed the moderater review message thing, so sorry about that!**

**READ: If you had not posted a vote on whether or not the Hoover Dam should be broken and would like to, DO SO NOW! I WILL NOT COUNT IT AFTER I POST CHAPTER 20!**

**Thanks for reading the sneak peek!**


	20. Traitor or Friend?

**Disclaimer:**

**Friend: I told you to go right!  
****Me: Well, I heard go left!  
****Friend: And I said, go right!  
****Me: That isn't the way, anyway!  
****Friend: Well, it distinctly reads _right_!  
****Me: Then you distinctly read _wrong_! Oh, by the way, I'm not Rick Riordan.  
****Friend: When did _that_ come into the conversation?  
****Me: Don't you mean arugment?**

XX

Alexis

Traitor or Friend?

Joann? Joann Pates-no, Payton- a wanted criminal? No, she couldn't be. She despised blood and gore. She was deadly afraid of going into the Gulf of Mexico, and she was scared of heights. That impedes on a lot of criminal activity. She was a half-blood, yes, she's the one that told me I was one. But a criminal? She was a lot of things, but_ not_ a criminal.

I'd known her for almost three years before she told me and the house fire and all that. It'd been ages since I'd seen her, but if she evaded capture for five years and Percy hunted down Luke for four, she would've been like five years old. A five-year-old wouldn't get mixed up in that! No, it must've been a different Joann Pates.

I was so distracted that I let fire crawl up my pants leg. "Uh, Alexis? Do you _want _to be burned?" Louisa asked me. I looked down, called myself an idiot in Ancient Greek, and blasted the area and myself with water. _Sizzle, sizzle, spark, splash._

For a while, I turned myself on autopilot: _wait, splash, move. Wait, splash, move._ – and thought about Joann – the one I knew.

We had met half-way through the sixth grade. I mean, yeah, we knew the other was there, but really didn't pay much attention to the other until about half-way through the seventh grade year.

It was during SATs, and we were having a break, and I was absolutely bored, so I took out my absolute favorite book of all time: Eon. She had sat behind me, and saw the cover what I was reading, and she was like, "You read that duo too!" and that's when a conversation started on the pros/cons of twelve-year-old Lord Eon really being sixteen-year-old Lady Eona, and what would happen if something different had happened like if Ryko…

_Wait, splash, move._

Then the next day, the conversation started up again where we left it, and in seventh grade we had Religion together which was really boring and really easy but had a lot of notes, and me always having to keep my hands busy, Joann and I started passing notes back and forth, since we sat right next to each other. Eventually, the notes gradually turned into a fanfic, done by her and me, and by the second time around, we were great friends.

_Wait, splash, move._

By the time my birthday rolled around, I trusted her enough to tell her about Hurricane Katrina.

Then right before school let out for the summer, during a monster attack, she told me what I was, and what she really was: not just a mortal, but a half-blood, a demigod, child of a Greek god and a mortal parent.

_Wait, splash, move._

I mean, sure, yeah, I'd never known my father, but this? Seriously? I hadn't even _told_ her about my father. It seemed like a cruel joke, and I said something to the effect of, "You're more insane than I thought." and fled. I had no weapons, and I'd only get in the way, so, I left.

I ran back home, and for some reason all the parents thought that we got out early on the last day of school and walked home. Uhh, excuse me? I didn't walk home, I sprinted to get away from there!

_Wait, splash, move._

Two weeks passed, and I read up on mythology and any other gods I got my hands on. Then the house fire. Gone were the only parents I ever knew.

I decided, with no other place to go, and running from law enforcement and orphanages, to see if I could find this mysterious 'camp.' She said it was on Long Island. Well, that narrows it down to forty miles of land.

_Wait, splash, move._

By some chance of luck, I had found it in a strawberry field, of all places. Then the Minotaur, and everyone knows the rest.

I shook myself out of my daze. Joann couldn't be a traitor, could she?

**Oooo! Will Alexis have to face her friend...and her fears?**

**GONE! Any votes past this I will not count for the Hoover Dam.**

**Any more votes for book five or book 3? Will discontinue the voting after chapter 22.**

**Oh, by the way, Eon really is a book, and that really is how my friend and I became best friends, only it was the Lightning Thief, not Eon. Eon is really good though! Recently, Eona came out, so the duo is complete with a big bang!**

**Random question of the chapter: Am I the only one who thinks The Lightning Thief would be a lot better if it was done in animation and not real people? Cause then they wouldn't have to have all the stunt doubles and they could just _do_ it? It would be able to follow the plotline a lot better.**

**Please review!**


	21. Multiple Attacks

**I don't own Percy Jackson or anything else you may recognize from Rick Riordan's books.**

XXI

Tesla

Multiple Attacks

I controlled the fire as I waited for Alexis to douse the flames. I put myself on autopilot as I thought: _Control, wait, move._

Alexis seemed tense as she put out the flames. She was radiating an air of disturbance. Eva's arrival seemed to have shaken Katie and Louisa too. Percy seemed ok-ish. Jace was oblivious to his girlfriend's troubles. I mean, yeah, Louisa and Jace would deny it if someone brought it up, but it was _so_ obvious.

Evan, sweet little guy, by the way, and intent of following orders. He really likes Alexis. He was catching on that there was something wrong, but couldn't figure out what it was. Leo probably knew what was going on but was ignoring it. He and Percy were actually being quite quiet for once. They made good time, actually all of us did. I could hear the _sissss _of Louisa's rapid _smother, soak, repeat._ Jace clicked his laptop shut and the _swish_ alerted me he had put it in the case. There was a slight _crack _that I heard that followed the sound of feet hitting wood.

I broke out of my autopilot and yelled, "Katie! Get off that branch!" There was a long pause, and I was cursing my inability to see silently as I waited. There was a slight _thump_, followed by a much louder _crack_ and then a very loud _thud_.

"Is everyone ok?" I yelled. Percy's voice sounded, sounding shaken.

"Yes. Katie's fine, thanks to you. Another three seconds on that branch and she would've plummeted to her death from thirty feet up. The branch was unstable. How did you know it was unstable?" he asked.

"When she landed, there was a very faint crack. I can hear a lot better than most seeing people, so it comes in handy once in a while."

"Is the branch she's on now unstable?" Louisa asked.

"No, it's fine. Is Katie herself fine?"

"Yes." Katie's voice said. "Thank you."

The fire apparently crept too close to Percy, because the next thing I hear is cursing and splashing.

"The fire get your pant leg too?" I heard Alexis ask.

"How did- oh." Percy said.

Everyone went back to work, but within the next hour we stopped because people kept getting wet because the Poseidon children were distracted. Especially Alexis and Louisa. Percy was just shaken on what almost happened to Katie.

It was only five, according to Alexis, but the smoke made it hard to see and it looked like the sun was on fire. To me, that didn't make a difference, but apparently the others would like to not get burned.

I kept wondering what the others thought of my blink-and-they-change eyes. Or about how young I was to go on this quest. I'm only ten! A ten year old fighting fires!

"Hey, guys. I just realized something." Percy said.

"What?" Leo asked.

"Today's the summer solstice."

"So?" I asked.

"It's been two years since the defeat of Gaea and we haven't run into too many dangerous enemies."

"Watch it, you'll jinx it!" Alexis said.

"Jinx it yourself, genius! You just did!" Louisa said dryly.

"Hey, guys! Try not to break out in fighting! We have enough problems." I said.

"Oh, I don't know all we've fought so far was the chimera. And really, Alexis took out that with the arrows and knives and all that." Louisa said.

"And about a million flames." Percy muttered. "Hey guys, I fought that while I was in the St. Louis Arch, and I almost died. Alexis got lucky, and the rest of us were there to distract it, so don't think it was a small feat." Percy said firmly.

"But we've just fought one monster. Where are the others? When you tell the stories you were attacked every three feet." I pointed out.

"Maybe they were all scared away by the fire."

"There's a lot of monsters that spurt or are immune to fire." Leo said dryly.

"He's right. You would believe how many monsters tried to fry me when I was on my own." I said. There was silence, and I said, "What?"

"Tried? Did you endure it like I did or dodge the flames?" Leo asked.

"No, I dodged it. My glasses would melt in the heat, even if I had known that I was a fire user, I would've instinctively dodged it. I wasn't raised like you were when you knew the whole time, Leo."

"But that doesn't make any sense. If she was attacked while living on her own, and so was Alexis, and I was attacked when I _wasn't_ alone, and so was Percy and probably Katie and Leo, then why aren't we being attacked by more monsters than we can count?" Louisa said.

"And why has only the chimera come for us? It doesn't have the best sense of smell." Alexis said.

"A lot have a better sense." I agreed.

'We're moving faster than the reporters, but the monsters should've attacked long ago." Katie jumped into the conversation from across the camp.

"It looks like it's going to rain." I heard Evan's tiny voice.

"What?" came from five people.

"See? Look! The clouds are covering up the moon."

"Clouds. In the middle of a wild fire when the moisture is scarce?" Percy asked incredulously.

"Wait, Evan's a clearsighted mortal. What if-"

"They're storm spirits." Leo finished.

"Evan, have those clouds been there awhile?" I asked.

"Well, yeah, they've been following us for awhile, but I didn't really pay attention to them because they didn't block the sun and it didn't look like rain until now…" he trailed off.

"They're waiting until we're split up, or at our greatest weakness." I realized. "They must be being controlled or something, because normally monsters just attack-" I was cut off by a _creak _and a _twang, swoosh, splat_. "What just happened?" Suddenly I was picked up and shoved into the middle of a circle of bodies with Evan.

"When they realized we figured it out, they started to attack us." I heard Percy whisper. "Alexis shot a monster in the eye and it disintegrated. But they're starting to surround us."

"Five of us, a dozen of them, at least." I heard Louisa estimate.

"Why aren't they attacking? They have the element of surprise." Katie said logically.

"_Because_ they have the element of surprise." Leo answered her grimly.

And then all Hades broke loose on us.

**Any more votes of Book 3 or Book 5? I've already got some of the story in rough draft, so please let me know what you think.**

**Recomendation Book of the Chapter: Dragon Slippers by Jessica Day George. Really good book, and she has completed the trio. Quick summary: Creel's slippers can save her kingdom... or destroy it.  
When Creel's aunt sacrifices her to a dragon, Creel refuses to wait for a knight to rescue her. After bargaining for her escape and winning a pair of blue slippers from the dragon's hoard, Crell sets out to find her own forturne in the king's city. Along the route, she meets and befriends another dragon, who hels her find her way. But when she arrives in the city, strange things start to happen, and Creel realizes that her mysterious slippers are more that just a pair of shoes...**

**I recommend it if you like fantasy and are an avid dragon lover! One of the best dragon stories I've read.**

**As always, please review!**


	22. Weapons and Plans

**Oh my gods! Did you hear? *Whispers* I am _not _Rick Riordan!**

XXII

Alexis

Weapons and Plans

I could see several monsters circling us, but couldn't get a clear shot at their heads. It appeared that only a couple were storm spirits. Some were hydras. I heard Louisa curse behind me as she recognized the first monster she defeated. A couple were _dracnae_, and I heard both Percy and Jace curse under their breath. Katie drew a sharp breath as she realized that there were several hellhounds too, and not the friendly Mrs. O'Leary. I cursed silently in my head when I saw a Cyclops.

"What is it with the variety?" I asked. "I don't have enough knives for all of them."

"Plan? Anyone?" Jace asked.

"I can go around and drive them out into the clearing. You guys can kill them." Louisa offered.

"No, there's too many. We need to draw them out one at a time." I said. "And we can't split up. They respect a pack. All of us need more weapons though. I only have my bow and a half-full quiver and two knives. Percy needs a shield and so does Katie and Louisa. Jace needs a refill on his quiver too. Tesla? You got anything on you?" I outlined.

"I have the knife that you threw at the chimera. And a severely unbalanced sword. One of the Hephaestus campers gave it to me as a welcome gift, only he was a newbie himself." she said.

"Louisa? Can you get my bag? I have plenty of weapons in there, but it's on the other side of camp." I asked her. The wind picked up, and it looked like my bag was in the middle of a small tornado. It hovered in front of me, and I grabbed it. I let go of my bow for two seconds and handed my bag to Evan. "Evan, do you see the section of weapons?"

"Yeah." he said quietly.

"There are quivers in there. Do you know what quivers are?"

"Yes." I heard rustling.

"Get two quivers. Make sure they're full!" I said calmly. "And hand one to me and one to Jace." I put my hand behind my back, open and ready for grasping the quiver. I felt it placed carefully in my hand. "Thank you." I hurriedly set down my bow and took off my half-empty quiver and replaced it with my brand-new one. I pushed the half-empty one behind me.

I heard Jace say, "Thank you." as well.

"Now please pick up our half-empty quivers and put them in the bag." I heard rustling behind me. "Do you see a belt with a lot of loops on it?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Does it have really sharp knives in it?"

"Yeah. Do you want me to hand it to you?"

"Yes, I would, thank you." I said. I felt it placed in my hand. I hurriedly slipped it on around my waist.

"There are a bunch of shields. Get three and hand them to Katie, Percy and Louisa." I ordered. I heard three "Thank you."s.

"Louisa, you want a sword? Or are you ok with your knife?"

"I would like a longer weapon." she admitted.

"Evan? Please get a short sword. There are three piles, knives, short swords, and swords. Get a short sword that looks like a brownish-red. That's called bronze. Our swords are made of Celestial bronze."

I heard rustling behind me, and then a brisk, "Thank you."

"Katie, does he know anything about weapons, as in how to use them?"

"He knows the disarming maneuver, the simple one, and he knows how to roll with a knife in one hand and a small shield in the other. I taught him after I explained all of what he kept seeing and giving him nightmares."

"Leo, cover me." I said. I stepped back and Leo covered my spot and his. I grabbed at my bag, and looked for a small knife and a lightweight shield. I found a Celestial bronze knife and a shield.

Handing a five-or-six-year-old a knife and shield normally isn't what you'd want to do, but when you're the brother of a half-blood and a clearsighted mortal, the rules kind of go out the window.

I handed him them, and he slid his arm into the shield and gripped the knife like he'd been doing it all his life. I crouched in front of him. "If the monsters manage to break through our line, you must defend Tesla, ok? Tesla, keep track of him. You two are the youngest and have the least training, so I expect you two to defend each other, got it?" They both nodded. "Thank you, Leo." I resumed where I had been.

"Anyone have a suggestion?" I asked tensely.

"We could break the Hoover Dam from here." Percy offered.

"Someone could break out of line and stab the monsters one by one." Jace said. "And the rest of us could cover Tesla and Evan."

"Louisa can drive the monsters into the clearing one by one, and we can turn them to dust with an arrow or fire or water ball." Leo suggested.

"I don't think solving this the Greek way will do much." Louisa said.

"What?" a couple people said around the circle.

But Percy and I got it. "We'll have to do it the Egyptian way." we said in sync. I grabbed my staff and wand from the Duat and dropped my bow. I looked over and saw Louisa and Percy doing the same. I had forgotten that Percy had a week and a half of training. We readied our staffs and put up a barrier of water. "We'll have to do a mixture of both." I said.

**Oooo! Fun with Greek and Egyptian powers!**

**I have no votes for book 3, so book 5 it is! And the vote is GONE!**

**Random question of the chapter: Why do you guys think when you see you have a review or more, and what do you think if you don't get any?**

**To answer my own question, I'm like, yes!, I got a review! That means someone likes it! And if I don't get any, I'm like, Darn, I won't do something like that again.**


	23. Oh My Goddess!

**I don't own the PJO books or the KC series.**

XXIII

Louisa

Goddess

I wasn't exactly sure on what to do. Overall, we weren't strong enough to do Divine Words a lot, but all three of us were considered elementalists. Alexis and I really needed to go to the Brooklyn House and get the rest of our training, since we'd had half a day of it.

A monster got too close the edge of the trees and Jace shot it in the eye, and it turned to dust.

It seemed like time slowed down a little bit, and I was completely in control instead of fumbling. I had no idea what the Hades was going on, but I was willing to go with it. For now.

I remembered that Sadie said that the closer situation you're in, the closer in feelings, the more likely you're accidentally or purposefully to join with a god or goddess.

Holy cr-

_No profanity while I'm in here, please. And trust me, I won't stay too long._

_Do you have ANY idea what you've done!_ I yelled at her. I thought about the prophecy. _She will become called a goddess, By the ill-made action of another._ What the freaking Hades! Does it really have to be now!

_Would you_ like_ to be torn apart by monsters? You said yourself with Alexis that you had to do it the Egyptian way._

_I didn't ask for a goddess in my head! I just wanted to get out of this alive and well somewhat!_

_Well, it won't be somewhat if you don't let me help!_

_Well at least tell me which goddess you are! I have a suspicion, but I would rather not embarrass myself._

_If you think I'm Nepthys, you are right._

_Good! Intro's over, now what?_ I asked sarcastically. A monster, one of the more blockheaded ones, probably, burst from the under brush and was incinerated with fire, blasted with water and air, and had several arrows in it in under a second.

"Katie, can you drag a monster into the clearing or to the edge of the trees with vines or something?" Alexis asked.

"I know how to trip someone or tie them down, but not drag someone, sorry."

_You can drag someone with the Divine Word of _Bind.

_Don't you have to be touching them?_

_Girl, quit distrusting me and get to work!_

_You're the one that invaded my head!_

_Just DO IT!_

_You don't have to blast out my mental eardrums._ I grumbled. Before I could think about it too much and chicken out of using the Egyptian magic in a real fight, I yelled, "_Tas!_" and threw some rope I found in the Duat.

It wound around a monster, taking out its feet, and I pantomimed pulling on a rope and it was dragged into the clearing. "Well? Blast it already! I can't use both Greek and Egyptian magic at the same time!" I said, yelling at the others to hurry up. The others recovered and blasted it.

_Again!_ Nepthys urged me.

_You know how weird it is to have a voice in your head that isn't yours?_ I said randomly, trying not to think about what I'm doing too hard.

The rope flew from the spot that it was laying in the middle of the dust, and dragged out another monster, this time a _dracnae_. This time there was no hesitation in blasting it to pieces.

We went like that, dragging a monster out and then blasting it to dust. When we were done, Nepthys left, much to my relief, and horror at her parting sentence: _We will be together again, under worse circumstances._

Time sped the little bit back up again, and I collapsed against the ground. "Careful. You used a lot of magic, Louisa. But you did brilliantly."

I felt ambrosia being stuffed into my mouth, and I chewed. Once my energy was somewhat restored, I fell asleep, not taking an hour to get there. For the first time in awhile, I had no dreams.

**Sooo, you like it? You hate it? I know, it's a little bit of a bad battle, but it was rather clean and neat, besides Louisa being invaded and then collasping and all that good stuff...**

**I need to know what you people think! I think I have 25 indivual viewers (roughly), and only five or six of you are reviewing!**

**Thank you, Gaia was Framed, for being the fiftith reviewer! You guys are all awesome for getting to fifty before chapter 29! If you make it to sixty, I'll give a shoutout to each of you and two virtual cookies for each! But only in this chapter. Only six reviews, guys!**


	24. Closer

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XXIV

Alexis

Closer

Ok, Louisa is officially the coolest sister ever. How the heck did she have enough reserves to do that much magic?

After Louisa collapsed, two people were elected to watch awhile, and then wake two of us up. I don't know who they were, but not me, and I crashed almost instantly.

I jerked awake from my nightmare, and crept outside. Katie was just coming in, and I said, "I'll go." She nodded tiredly and went to a random tent.

I put my feet in the water of the Colorado River. Would we really have to break the Hoover Dam? Were we really that unlucky? Or was it just unfortunate?

Yesterday was scary. First the branch that Katie was on, which Tesla, thank the gods, heard crack, and then the hoard of monsters, and then the nightmare of a wall of water sweeping me off my feet and trying to drown me.

I watched the river swirl past my bare feet and continue downstream, towards the Hoover Dam. Why did everything lead back to Hoover Dam?

"Alexis?" I heard someone say, breaking my train of thought.

"Yeah?" I turned around, and saw Evan. "You ok, big guy?

"Dream waked me up."

"Nightmares? Glad I'm not the only one." I said. I sat down on the ground, and patted the spot next to me. "Come on. Come sit next to me."

"You think me as little brother?" he asked as he sat down. I put my arm around him, and nodded.

"Yeah. I do. I never had one, so I guess." I said slowly.

"You think we'll get to camp?" he asked.

"Well, we've made it this far. We've fought monsters, rescued people, rescued you and Katie, and put out flames. We can't get much more dangerous than that. And camp's safe. We'll be safe there once we finish this quest." I comforted him. I looked up at the moon. It was smiling like a Cheshire cat. It looked like Artemis was on top of the world up there.

"Moon's pretty. You couldn't see it yesterday because of the clouds." he commented. He laid his head on my side, which took me by surprise, but I didn't mind. I guess we were at the same level when it came to the sibling thing.

"You tired?" I said with amusement. He came out not five minutes ago, because of a nightmare. Now he was going back to sleep on my side.

"Yeah." he said sleepily.

"C'mere, you." I said. I picked him up and hissed at whoever was on watch that I was putting Evan back to bed. Evan was already asleep in my arms.

I put him in my sleeping bag, which was still warm from my heat. He snuggled into it. Sometimes I forgot that he was just five or six, and not a teenager like the rest of us, because of the way he held up.

I backed out of the tent, and told the guard that I was back, and went down by the river again, guarding the south side of the camp.

In the morning, just before dawn, Louisa crept out and joined me at the river.

"Is everyone having dreams that wake them up?" I asked her.

"Yeah. Who else have you had a visit from?"

"Evan. I was the first one up, and then Evan, who fell asleep on my side after five minutes of coming out, saying a dream woke him up. Then you, who I normally don't see during the morning period."

Louisa let out a little laugh at Evan. "Where did you put him?"

"In my sleeping bag, since I didn't know where his was."

There was silence as we watched Apollo come up, lighting the whole river with a magnificent array of oranges, pinks, and midnight blues. I made a mental note to get up before dawn and paint the ocean and sunrise one time at camp.

Once the array had passed, Louisa and I shared equal sighs of regret, and then burst out laughing.

"Did I miss something?" Katie said behind us.

We laughed harder.

**This chapter was more of a filler than anything, just to show that everyone's becoming closer as the danger sets on.**

**Not real long of a author's note this time, thank goodness.**

**I put up another story, called What the Hades?. I couldn't sleep last night, and this popped into my head. Hope you like it!**

**For those of you who are Dragon Slippers fans, I have put up a chapter of my book, called Dragon of the Depths.**

**I know I'm publishing a lot of books, but I have all these ideas and only a few of them work out, so I was like, why not?**

**Please review!**


	25. Stick Together

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XXV

Alexis

Stick Together

"Well, after yesterday's fiasco, we need partners, as in groups of at least two." Jace said. "Perhaps one could look out and the other douse?"

"Good idea. Leo and I, Louisa and Jace, Alexis and Evan, and Katie and Tesla. That ok with everyone?" Percy suggested. I saw Louisa and Jace blush faintly but nod. I nodded and saw that everyone was fine with their partners.

"Good. Since the fires are closing in again, we need to go now. Pack up!" I said. Evan tried to help me take down the tent but only managed to get trapped inside. I held the door open for him as I laughed a little at him. I rolled up the tent and stuffed it into its bag, and threw in down into the cavern of my bag. I stepped out of the way as the others came to deposit their stuff.

"Let me check out to see what the fires are doing, and let me chart our progress." Jace said. Leo and Percy wandered off, and soon I saw the sparks of water and fire clashing together. Katie and Tesla were talking comfortably about the pros and cons of blindness. I was looking at the bright blue river, wondering how it wasn't tarnished with ash, and Evan was in his own little world. Louisa was staring at Jace, and Jace himself was frowning at his computer.

Despite the overall comfortable atmosphere, lying underneath it was tension. I saw Katie looking over her shoulder, and Tesla cocking her head sometimes. Evan had kept a look out also, and Percy and Leo were looking over each others' shoulders, and over their own. Louisa even broke from staring at Jace to scan the nearby trees. I found myself looking for my knives more than once when something twitched in the trees.

Jace snapped his laptop shut loudly, and everyone jumped a little, including Jace. "The fires are almost across Utah. We may have to use that last resort." he said grimly, getting up. "Idaho is in flames too. Arizona and Nevada are getting worried, and Oregon and Montana are advising homeowners to let their hoses run."

There was a choir of gasps. "We need to move. Today, we work until we can't see. Alexis, we need some masks for the soot and smoke." Percy said.

I reached into my bag. "Got some. We do need to change them every few hours. If the mask is gray, take it off and come to me to get a new one." I handed them out, then put one on my face. "Talking will be a bit harder, so save it until you really need to." I said, sounding muffled.

We traveled in silence. Percy and Leo went in the lead, then Katie and Tesla, then me and Evan, and Louisa and Jace covered the back. I only heard one _twang_ from Jace's bow, and then a _poof!_, saying that either a monster had died or Louisa had turned to air. I was more likely to go with the former.

When we reached flames, we doused them. When we reached burning houses, Percy and Leo went inside and scouted out if there were any people, and Louisa and me would smother and douse the house itself. If there were people in there, we dropped them off near a shelter and disappeared.

We did a lot, but compared to yesterday it was nothing. Jace showed us how far we had gotten, and we had just crossed over into Utah. We had left the river behind, but we were working towards another branch of it. Where we crossed over there was only fifteen miles between one branch and another.

By the time dusk had passed, we had reached the other branch and was working our way upstream when Louisa, Leo, and Evan collapsed. Percy and I were near collapsing, and Katie's arm was shaking from holding a sword so long.

We had gotten attacked by monsters several times, and had run from reporters once.

All of us had changed our masks twice, and in the tents I thought we'd be shielded a little more. The air was so smoky Louisa didn't dare turn to air, even if she could as tired as she was.

I was tired, but I stayed up long enough to say goodnight to Artemis.

Louisa, Jace and I crept out before dawn to watch the array of colors, and little did we know that would be a morning ritual we would do for the rest of our lives. Katie joined us half-way through, and all of us laughed when we shared sighs of hope, regret, and happiness.

**Review!**

**This story from here onward will bring the eight closer together. I know I'm doing a lot of short chapters, but it will come!**

**Yes, I will break the Hoover Dam, but be patient, please! Jeez!**


	26. Danger and Fun

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XXVI

Louisa

Danger and Fun

It was mid-morning when the second attack came, of both fire and monsters.

It was 11:30 am on the dot when the last flame was doused.

It was 10:32 am when we broke the Hoover Dam.

It was Percy, Alexis, and I that collapsed after breaking the Hoover Dam and wiped out every flame, monster, and possible threat in the Utah, Colorado, Idaho, and Arizona area with the massive wave of water that doused everything in its path.

And it was one o'clock in the afternoon by the time we woke and were on a train back to New York.

It was incredible, exhilarating, and painful all at the same time when we broke the Hoover Dam.

Incredible, to see the water top the dam and break it down on the internet on a live vid-feed.

Exhilarating, to see the wall of water that we controlled.

Painful, because my gut was protesting that it hadn't had breakfast in the first place was now controlling a wall of water as tall as a short skyscraper and as wide as half of Colorado.

The monster attack gave us an extra reserve of energy: adrenaline.

Jace had yelled, "_Now_!" and the three of us knew what he meant. We were too spread out to get in a circle quickly. They were able to pick us off one by one, and would, if it hadn't been for the rumble that you could hear in every direction for states.

We were in Utah, and we could hear the Hoover Dam breaking in Arizona. Later, reports as far away as Mississippi, the locals felt tremors under their feet, and they thought that the fault on the Mississippi river was going to quake, and basically wreak havoc up and down the Mississippi River.

It took awhile, but the wave did reach us, and then it passed, on its way to rest of Utah and Idaho.

An hour later, reports say that the fires were doused by the massive wave, and the people were free to start rebuilding.

All except one flame.

Percy and Alexis had collapsed immediately after releasing their hold on the wave, but I managed to stay awake long enough to throw some water at a flame that had sparked back to life, and then collapsed with them, completely spent.

It was around one when Alexis woke up, and then Percy and I woke up a little after her. We were on a train back to New York, thanks to Katie and Jace, who had just enough money for us to come aboard.

On the way back, we were mostly silent. I was thinking about the prophecy.

_Three of the sea_. Me, Percy, and Alexis.

_Two of the fire._ Leo and Tesla.

_Two will free._ We freed Katie and her brother, the ones closest to us.

_And catch the one who lit the pyre._ Who was it? We haven't caught anyone.

I mulled over that for the rest of the trip home, and I bet everyone else was too.

Jace broke the silence. "Are we planning a party when we get home?"

I laughed. I almost forgot about the party. "Why not do it here?" I asked. "So, masquerade, or no, and dressing up as something fantasy-like or mythology or both?" I said, laying down some options.

"No masquerade." Percy and Alexis said.

"Both." Jace and Katie said.

"My turn." Jace said. "Outside, in the green, during the day, or around the campfire, at night?"

"Campfire." Alexis, Leo, and I said.

"Music, slow or fun?" Tesla asked, getting into the spirit.

"Both." Jace and I said. Percy and Alexis burst out laughing.

"Storytelling from different quests, like how Annabeth got to camp, or some back story on random campers?" Percy asked.

"Definitely. But we shouldn't make them tell if they don't want to." I said.

"Food?" Evan asked in a little voice.

"Yes." all the boys said. Alexis and I laughed at them.

"What's the light going to be at night?" Katie asked. "Spotlights or lanterns?"

"Neither. A bright campfire, with everyone mingling and talking should light everything up, with music in the background." I said.

"When we have dancing we may have colored spotlights, though." Percy said mischievously.

"Who said anything about dancing?" Jace demanded.

"Well, there's music, so there should be dancing." Alexis said, trying to smother a smile and failing miserably.

"Especially slow dancing." Leo said, catching on. Jace and I were red by now.

"You think I should give them a red rose to compliment their cheeks?" Katie said, laughing at our faces, and not bothering to hide it.

"Excellent idea." Leo said, laughing too.

"Oh, guys, for the love of Hades!" I said. "Shut up!" Of course, this just made them laugh harder.

"But why would we do that? It's fun to see your faces out-blush a tomato." Alexis said, laughing. "And besides, I'm not a guy. I'm a gal."

"And you'll be going to a gal_a_ in a couple weeks and I'll make sure to get you a floor-length dress and bribe the Aphrodite cabin to dress you up." I threatened. Alexis hated dresses and makeup. She paled and instantly shut up. "Well that was effective." I remarked. Jace was doubled up, laughing at Alexis' face.

"_You_ are gonna get dressed up, yes?" Tesla asked.

"Of course. It's a party I helped plan, but I'm not going to wear makeup." I said. I heard Jace breathe out in a slight sigh of relief next to me.

"Come on guys. Back on topic." Alexis said.

"I thought the topic was Louisa and Jace." Percy said mock-petulantly.

"Party. Not Lace."

"What?" I said, confused. "We weren't talking about lace in the first place." I realized what I said, and Percy started hooting with laughter. I caught on to the 'Lace' thing, and I glared at my sister. "You spend way too much time around the Aphrodite cabin."

**Party time! Anything else you guys might want to add? Egyptians? Romans? Streamers? Actually, I think I'll invite the Egyptians and Romans. Opinions?**

**I need decoration ideas! Any and all are helpful!**

**This story is just about wrapped up, three more chapters and a thank you page, and I'll be done. Just so you know, if you want your pen name on my shoutouts page, you have to review or PM me.**

**As I said in previous chapters, the sequel will be called Sun's Heat.**

**All suggestions helpful! Any specific pairings you guys want slow-dancing, besides Lace? Percabeth? Zarter? Salt/Sanubis? Jiper or Jeyna? Hank?**


	27. Party!

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XXVII

Alexis

Party!

Three weeks had passed, and the party was here. Chiron had actually agreed to it, surprisingly, and everyone was running around, getting the Amphitheater ready for the hoards of people that were going to be in it.

Louisa and the Hebe cabin passed around a poll for the party themes, and it ended up being a mixture of the Greco-Roman theme and Egyptian, since the two had voted exactly the same.

The dress wasn't masquerade, and you dressed up like something from any of the Greco-Roman myths, or the Egyptian myths, or something fantasy-like, like a fairy or something. Or you could just simply dress up.

I was dressed as the goddess Amphrite, the sea goddess, and Poseidon's wife. I had a one-shoulder top and a knee-length skirt, both aquamarine and rimmed with silver. The skirt had intricate designs all around it in silver also. I wore a crown made of coral and pearls, and I had the traditional Ancient Greek sandals on my feet.

I still hadn't seen Louisa or her dress, and I was dying to know what she looked like. Almost all of the Greeks were here, and half the Egyptians were here, and the Romans were just starting to trickle in. The Hunters hadn't yet arrived yet. Already the amphitheater was packed, and the Romans had just started.

You could tell where each cabin's guys were. Pollux and Dakota were rocking it out with the Kool-Aid, and they had bright purple ties that I swear I could see from a mile away. Most of the Apollo guys were wearing something bright gold that shone in the sunset.

Tesla hadn't arrived yet either, and Jace was tagging along with me until Louisa got here. He was in a tux and had a bright gold tie, which was better than some of the others. One had a totally gold suit and a black tie, which looked a bit too bright.

I'd heard that Tesla and Louisa had gotten mugged by the Aphrodite girls, intent on them being stunning. I heard that for a lot of people this was their first party and the Aphrodite cabin was working overtime to kidnap these people and make them look stunning for their first party.

Better them than me, and I was on a look out for any Aphrodite kids that were on the loose in the party, cause there were quite a few and I don't relish being kidnapped for any reason. And, yes, this was my first party.

I'd been kidnapped far too many times in my life. I don't need a third time.

The music was nice, no words yet, that would come when everyone was here. And then an hour into it, it'd be slow-dance time, with some people singing to the music, and then there were the stories.

I sat down for awhile and talked with a gaggle of girls from all the different cabins for about ten minutes. Jace wandered off to talk with some of his guy friends.

I looked up from time to time to look at the entrance to see who was coming. The tables piled with food of all kinds that ringed around the back was a main joining spot, and I saw several people talking with others that they don't normally talk to.

There was a commotion at the entrance, signaling the Hunters arriving, who all looked beautiful in silver garments rimmed with colored ribbons, signaling what they were: Thalia had electric blue, Phobe had a green color, and the wolves that normally traveled with them all had silver bows around their necks.

Five minutes later, the rest of the Romans and Egyptians poured in, and I still hadn't seen the kidnapped people.

By now the people had to walk among the stands and chatter with friends rather than just on the floor.

There was another commotion, and the Aphrodite cabin walked through the entrance, almost strutting with pride. Then all the people they kidnapped.

Most of them were girls, but some of them were boys too, but Louisa and Tesla were the first to walk in, with many oohs and aahs.

The Aphrodite cabin had chosen to simply dress her up, and she _was_ stunning. She had a sea-green dress that brought out her eyes, rimmed with gold, and it was ankle-length. The bodice was tight, showing off her curves, and it was a sleeveless gown with a sharp V-neck. Like mine, the skirt had intricate designs done all around, only it was done in a royal blue. Her hair was slightly wavy, and it was obvious that the Aphrodite had braided it tightly for awhile so her hair would kink, and it fell down to her waist. She had mascara and green eyeshadow on but that was the extent of her makeup.

I stole a glance at Jace, who had his jaw somewhere around his knees.

Tesla was dressed as a fairy. She also had a dress on, only it was a single piece and sewn on one side with a _lot_ of skirt. It was low in the back, for the wings, and the whole thing was stretchy, but the bodice was tight, and it went down mid-calf. It was a fiery orange, complimenting her father beautifully. Her hair was done up in a tight swirl, and she had no makeup on. The wings were shaped like a crescent moon, and as orange as her dress. They had the same clearness and detail as a dragonfly's, but it looked like they'd been dyed orange.

I excused myself from the group, went over and grabbed Jace, who was practically drooling at his girlfriend, and made my way to Louisa and Tesla.

"You look wonderful!" I said, hugging my sister and Tesla in turn. "Jace. Please don't embarrass yourself by staring at your girlfriend." I said, and then shoved him towards her. I grabbed Tesla by the arm and whispered to her: "Let's leave the two alone."

She nodded, and I guided her through the crowd, which was relatively easy since once all the people saw who I was guiding they cleared a path for her. "You know, I should guide you more often. They clear a path for us." I told her jokingly.

We reached the stands, and then music with words started. I stared at the fire. On a good night it was twenty feet tall and bright gold, but this was tall as the amphitheater itself, and I kept wondering if we were sending up a smoke signal with that much fire.

Tesla and I talked about half an hour, and then the slow dance music started.

Once the crowd cleared to the stands, I saw several couples. Sadie and Walt, Carter and Zia, Louisa and Jace (which raised many ooooohs), Jason and Piper, Percy and Annabeth (who looked stunning in a gray rimmed with green dress), Frank and Hazel (who looked beautiful as Hestia in a lavender gown), to name a few, were all there.

Will was up on the stage, singing something that had to do with love and went with the music perfectly.

I was so busy watching the couples and Will's band, that I didn't see a boy sneak up behind me.

"Might I have this dance?"

I whirled around, and my eyes widened. "Aiden! But you aren't-how did you-why are you-oh, never mind. I don't care how you got in here!" I leaped up and hugged him. Why _was _my best friend here?

"Son of Hecate." he said, after I released him. He held up his index finger and it ignited with fire.

"Watch where you put that. I've had enough fires for a lifetime." I told him sternly. He extinguished it.

"So, may I have this dance?" he said holding out his hand. I took it without saying anything, and we walked onto the floor.

We danced for half an hour, and I successfully ignored all of the stares.

Then it was time for the stories.

Percy, Annabeth, Jace, Louisa, Sadie, and I got up and went to the front to tell stories of how we got here, what our quests were like, and then random people were chosen to get down here and either tell us how they got here or a bit of backstory.

It turns out that Louisa is a really good story teller. She, Jace, and Sadie rivaled each other for the microphone for our kidnapping event.

Louisa and I told about our most recent adventure, and then Percy and Annabeth told their ten or eleven (I lost count) adventures together and Annabeth told how she got to camp with Grover, Luke, and Thalia.

Thalia got up once and told some stories about the hunt, and what life was like before Annabeth.

Some of the older campers described what life was like before the wars and all the excitement that Percy and Louisa caused.

Even Nico was there, and he got up and described what it was like to meet Percy at the Roman camp, then finding out that Louisa was his cousin, and what it was like to roam around the country.

Anyone who has had the least adventure, got up and shared it. Even Praetor Reyna got up and shared what it was like to be prisoner to pirates.

Louisa, Tesla, and I shared what it was like to be survivors of Hurricane Katrina, and what had happened during and after the catastrophe.

It ended around midnight, when the younger children were falling asleep on each other.

Chiron sent us all to bed, with the Romans divided up into the cabins. The Brooklyn cabin was a little cramped, with sleeping bags on the floor and people in all four bunks, but they lasted the night.

The Hunters and Artemis spent the night in the Artemis cabin.

And we all fell asleep within minutes by the blessing of the moon.

**I will post the last three (two very short chapters and the thanks, so I see no reason to do this on three separate days) chapters tomorrow, and then the next day I will post Sun's Heat! I have the first five chapters in rough draft. When I have two short chapters in a row, make sure to check so that you don't skip anything.**

**I got an awesome cover for it already, and it looks quite appropriate. I also have something for the last book too.**

**I know it's like, really early, but anyone have any ideas for the fourth book? Titles, plots...?**

**Also, I know Gaia was Framed does, but does anyone actually _read_ these things, or should I do all my info on an Author's Note in the middle of the story, to see how many read them then?**


	28. A Note of Danger

**Ok, yeah, I know, I lied. But it looked like everyone was done reviewing for the last chapter, so I figured, what the Hades? Why not! I know, I wing it a lot.**

**I don't own PJO or KC.**

XXVIII

Alexis

A Note of Danger

Everyone moved out by noon, stayed for breakfast and then headed home. Or to wherever. Nico was gone by dawn, the Egyptians moved out right after breakfast, the Romans two hours before lunch, and the Hunters and Artemis right after them.

I went and did all my activities, and helped clean up after the party last night.

Some were yawning, but I wasn't. I'd gone this fast on less sleep, and I went to bed at midnight and woke before dawn to go down and watch the sun come up with Louisa and Jace by the sea.

It was just before dinner when my mood evaporated.

I came in to get my bow and quiver, and I saw a note taped to my bunk's bedpost. I thought Louisa was doing something and sent me a note to tell me that she would be back late, so I wasn't very worried when I saw it at first.

And then I saw the handwriting. My eyes widened. I'd know that handwriting anywhere.

_Meet me where we met two summers ago. I'll know when you go._

_-JoPa_

JoPa. Joann Pates. And inside joke between the two of us.

I tore it off my bedpost and ran to show Louisa and Eva.

When I told Louisa, she insisted that when I go, that she come as backup. I made no complaints. I wanted her there.

"Tell me when you go. And don't tell anyone else." Louisa said. "We can tell them after we get her."

I nodded.

**One more chapter! Keep reading, guys!**


	29. The Sea and Epilogue

**For the last time in this book, I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians or the Kane Chronicals.**

XXIX

Tesla

The Sea and Epilogue

I stood by the sea in my t-shirt and jeans. The sea breeze ruffled my hair and sent shivers down my spine.

I also stood in the same spot that I met Alexis at. The spot where my life changed. No more running, no more loneliness, no more pain, no more struggle.

I thought about my first quest. I thought about my previous life, and about Louisa and Alexis.

We all shared something in common.

We had ran from our previous life to be accepted into this one with open arms.

I spread my wings and flew over the sea, not caring that I heard Louisa and Alexis' footsteps behind me.

* * *

_When you're in pain it's hard to feel or think about anything else, you're just concentrating on that pain and trying to make it through._

_When you're released from that pain, however, you realize how much you've missed. Friends, family, pets, love, hate, hurt, happiness. Hope. It's all there, but you can't see it, because you're trying to make it through the crowd of pain._

_Hope. That's what kept us going. It's what keeps all of us going. If there is something I learned on this quest, it's about hope. It's love and hope that keeps us going, living life to the fullest. If you don't have hope, you give up._

_And if you don't have love, you have pain._

**If you have reviewed or if you have not read the various author notes throughout the story telling you about the sequel, please continue reading to the next chapter.**

**By the way, are my epilogues too sober? It's ridiculous, I know, but since a lot of people are saying that I write a lot like Rick Riordan, I wanted something that he didn't do, which was epilogues, so I put it in there, saying what the people think or learned at the end of the book. Consider it a bit of wisdom from an author who saves on words.**


	30. Thank You!

OH MY FREAKING GODS! THANK YOU ALL YOU GUYS WHO REVIEWED! I HAVE AN ENITRE 75 REVIEWS!

Ok, so done with the yelling, and really, thank you all.

Special thanks to:

**Gaia was Framed**, for being a staunch supporter in both books, for being the first and the fiftieth reviewer.

**irishpixie823**, for being another staunch supporter in both books.

**Lunabear505**, for reading, reviewing, and favoriting.

**delacour12**, for reviewing on both books and on Wing It.

**Werewolf not a golden retriever**, for reviewing and following. By the way, interesting name.

**Myrna Maeve**, for being another staunch supporter and reviewing. Welcome to my books!

**bhz**, for reviewing. Welcome to my books!

**DeathbladeMeister**, for reviewing and offering wonderful advice. Welcome to my books!

**trustingHim17**, for being a reviewer! Thank you!

And **KJtheELMtree**, my newest reviewer! Thanks!

To all the **Guest**s: Thank you for reviewing, and I wish I could give a shoutout to each of you using a pen name! The reviews mean so much to me!

My next book will be called Sun's Heat.

I hope to see all of you at my next book! Two virtual cookies for all of you who reviewed! (::) (::)

PS: read the Dragon Slippers Trilogy if you like fantasy, dragons, or kings and handsome princes. Plus some war in there too. And a pair of slippers. Well, a lot of slippers, but a special pair… sorry. I'm rambling. Erin Hunter is a good author too, if you like cats or fights.


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